Joint Statement Following Discussions With President Youlou.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY and President Youlou met today and discussed problems of joint interest to their governments. The ties that bind the Republic of Congo to the United States were stressed including their common links with the European continent and western civilization.

President Youlou stressed that his visit to the United States was not for the purpose of securing immediate financial assistance but the two Presidents entered into a discussion of the economic problems of the Congo and long-range economic development of that country. A great part of the economic discussion between President Kennedy and President Youlou centered on the future hydroelectric development of the Congo which will provide the basis of a planned industrial expansion.

In discussing the affairs of the Congo and of the world, they found that they had a common approach to the problems of the free world.

President Youlou gave President Kennedy his impressions on the way of preserving and developing the traditional heritage of the western civilization in Africa.