REPRESENTATIVES FROM PACIFIC RIM NATIONS SIGN OPEN SKIES AGREEMENT, 2001-05-01 (photo)

Representatives from five Pacific Rim nations shake hands after signing a multilateral Open-Skies agreement at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. May 1, 2001. The representatives (L-R) are New Zealand Minister for Trade Negotiations Jim Sutton, Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, Brunei Darussalam Minister of Communications Pehin Dato Haji Zakaria bin DMW Haji Sulaiman, and Chilean Ambassador to the Organization of American States Estaban Tomic. Speaking about the agreement, Mineta said, "With this historic agreement we are beginning to move beyond the current system of bilateral aviation agreements and into the international aviation environment of the 21st century. WM/JP