The President has asked me to relay to you the particular importance he places on Vice President Mondale's trip. He sees this very early visit by the Vice President, a person he has come to value as a personal friend as well as a chief policy and political adviser, as symbolic of the importance this administration places on close and cooperative relationships with our friends and allies.

Above and beyond this symbolism, the President sees this journey as an important mission of fact finding and consultation at a time when the importance of economic and political cooperation to define and resolve mutual problems has never been greater.

The President is aware and the American people are aware that the relationships among nations now, as perhaps never before, directly affect the jobs and the economic security of families all over the world.