Monday, September 24, 2007 Arroyo set to leave for New York for UN meet
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will leave for New York on Tuesday night to attend the 62nd United Nations (UN) General Assembly, meet with US business groups and the Filipino community, and watch actress-singer Lea Salonga perform in Broadway’s Les Miserables.
Arroyo is expected to leave Manila at 11 p.m. on September 25.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the President will deliver the Philippines’ country report to the UN General Assembly, after which she will meet with UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon to discuss issues affecting the Philippines and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Bunye, who is also the Presidential spokesman, said Arroyo will also attend the Clinton Global Initiative, which was organized in 2005 by her former classmate in Georgetown University, former US President Bill Clinton.
The opening plenary, which is moderated by Clinton, will discuss the major challenges of global health, education, poverty alleviation, and energy and climate change.
The panelists include Arroyo, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. president and chief executive officer H. Lee Scott Jr., South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and World Bank Group president Robert Zoellick.
Bunye said Arroyo will take advantage of her New York trip to meet with leaders of the US-Asean Business Advisory Council and officials of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which oversees the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).
He said the President will also receive calls from bank and financial officials and current US investors in the Philippines.
Before flying back to Manila, Arroyo may drop in at the matinee performance of Salonga, who is playing the role of Fantine in the Broadway musicale Les Miserables. (JMR/Sunnex)
