41.   President Hosni Mubarak met Tuesday with Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic for talks on boosting economic ties between the two countries.

42.   Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov Saturday to boost regional ties as a countermeasure to worsening conflicts in turbulent Central Asia.

43.   Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin arrived in Turkey on Monday for a two-day visit to sign agreements to boost economic ties.

44.   Senator Kerry arrives in Vietnam to boost trade ties.

45.   Russia and Syria have sought to boost ties in recent years.

46.   Russia and Syria have sought to boost ties in recent years, to the protest of the United States.

47.   Russia and Britain are also seeking to boost economic ties.

48.   Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko arrived in Hanoi Friday to expand cooperation with Vietnam in oil and gas exploration and boost economic ties.

49.   Sixth Fleet ships periodically call at ports in the Mediterranean region to boost ties with countries friendly to the United States.

50.   Several other countries in the region including Egypt announced that they would not attend the conference designed to boost economic ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors.