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Friday, April 22, 2005
Arroyo goes to Indonesia for Asian-African meet
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to meet with Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi and four other African leaders on Saturday in Jakarta during side bilateral meetings of the two-day Asian-African Summit in Jakarta.
Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Shulan Primavera said aside from the Tunisian leader, arrangements for bilateral talks between Arroyo and the heads of states of Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Mongolia and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan are also being worked out.
Arroyo and Ghannouchi is likely to discuss trade relations, the ongoing peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines' request for observer status with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) during the meeting.
Tunisia is a major oil producer and a member of the OIC.
Arroyo arrived Thursday afternoon in Jakarta on board special Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight C4007, which left the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City at around 1:55 p.m. She was accompanied among others by Press secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, Consumer and Oil Price Watch chairman Raul Concepcion and Universal Motors president Richard Lee.
An hour after her arrival, Arroyo met with the Filipino community based in Jakarta at the Shangri-La Hotel where a dinner for her was hosted.
Arroyo on Friday morning will address the Asian-African Business Summit at the Mulia Hotel where she would give a keynote speech on "Managing for Global Competition: Asian Perspective."
She is one of the two speakers in the 11 a.m. forum where the other speaker is Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long. After her speech a forum discussion on the theme "Dynamics of Asian-African Economies: Challenges of Reform and Wealth Creation" would be held.
The event would follow the 9 a.m. formal opening of the 50th Asian-African Summit, which would be opened by summit chairs Susilo Bambang Yudyohono, President of Indonesia and Thabo M. Mbeki, President of South African.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will then deliver his address, followed by the report of the Asian-African Ministerial meeting to be rendered by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda.
The Asian-African Summit is a gathering of some 102 leaders or some 47 heads of states, six vice presidents and the rest are executives of regional and sub-regional organizations and multilateral and donor agencies.
The second plenary session, where Arroyo will be one of the speakers and is expected to raise the issue of the rising cost of oil in the world market, would begin after lunch. It would be capped by a dinner hosted by the Indonesian President at the presidential palace, the Istana Merdeka.
Another plenary session would open Saturday, followed by the series of side bilateral talks and side meetings between Arroyo and the other African heads of state.
The summit would close with the historical walk of leaders, the signing of a declaration on the summit's results and agreements and a tree planting activity.
She would leave immediately for Manila after the event at 8 p.m. Saturday and is expected to arrive in Manila at 1 a.m. Sunday. (JMR)
(April 22, 2005 issue)
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