(17 Nov 2006) SHOTLIST
1. Wide exterior of Presidential Palace
2. US President George W. Bush walking in and shaking hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
3. Bush and Nguyen sitting in bilateral meeting
4. Close up of Nguyen
5. Close up of Bush
6. Mid of leaders chatting
7. Mid of Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont standing up, walking to the podium
8. Wide of meeting hall
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Surayud Chulanont, Thai interim Prime Minister:
"Our fourth major challenge is strengthening the rule of law. When the law is applied unevenly, it opens the way for corruption. Corruption encourages inefficiency. It is also bad for business. We need to become a country ruled by law, not by money or privilege."
10. Mid of delegates listening to the speech
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Surayud Chulanont, Thai interim Prime Minister:
"The Government has already taken initial steps toward reconciliation. I recently apologised to the Thai Muslims in the deep South for pervious governments often harsh repression."
12. Wide of delegates listening to the speech
13. Mid of Surayud bowing and walking back to his seat
14. Wide of Morris Chang, Taipei representative and chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, arriving at the press conference
15. Cutaway cameraman
16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Morris Chang, Taipei representative and chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation:
"We're still working very hard to get some bilateral agreements and that as a long ranged goal, we do feel FTA Asia Pacific is something that would be desirable for the bloc."
17. Wide of news conference
18. Wide of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walking down off the plane and down the stairs with his wife, welcomed by Vietnamese official
STORYLINE:
US President George W. Bush met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi on Friday as part of an official state visit preceding his participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Vietnam and the US have been on good terms recently, but Vietnam's bid for Permanent Normal Trade Relations was shot down at the beginning of the week, though there is confidence amongst the US trade officials that it will pass in the near future.
Bush's visit has been greeted with a certain ambivalence, shared by many Vietnamese, a sharp contrast to the reception that Bill Clinton received in 2000, when he became the first American president to visit since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
Meanwhile, Thai interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont assured the international communities that Thailand's main priority is to bring back democratically-elected government, and peace to its restive deep south.
Speaking at a regional business conference, he defended the September 19 bloodless military coup that had ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a response to the need for urgent political reforms amid rampant corruption, abuse of power, growing poverty and racial polarisation.
He said a new council would be established soon to draft a new constitution, which would be ratified by the people through national referendum, and leading to general elections by the end of 2007.
"When the law is applied unevenly, it opens the way for corruption. Corruption encourages inefficiency. It is also bad for business. We need to become a country ruled by law, not by money or privilege," Surayud told reporters.
Over the next year, Surayud said the interim government would seek to advance political reforms to lay the groundwork for an accountable and transparent government.
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