Monday, November 03, 2008
Arroyo invited to join summit in New York
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is eyeing a quick trip to the US next week to attend the Global Leaders' Crisis Summit in the United Nations (UN)' headquarters in New York following the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said Press Secretary Jesus Dureza.
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Dureza said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has asked Arroyo to join the summit and that the President "will probably respond positively" to the call because of the Philippines "deep support" for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East's "support" for the country.
US President George Bush is hosting a meeting of the global leaders from the G20 or 20 top-developed economies, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the president of the World Bank, the UN secretary-general, and the chairman of the Financial Stability Forum and the European Union to discuss the world financial crisis.
The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the US.
Dureza said based on initial information, it may just be a one-day trip where Arroyo would spend most of her time flying to and from the US.
The President would just go there to attend the meeting and leave immediately after it is concluded to return to the country, he added.
Arroyo is likely to attend first to the visit of Thailand Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat who is tentatively to visit the country from November 11 to 12 to preside over the meeting of the technical working group of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that is tackling the proposed expansion of the Chang Mai fund to assist developing economies with liquidity problem, according to Dureza.
Aside from the trip to the US, Arroyo is also set to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (Apec) meeting in Peru on the third week of November.
She is also set to attend the Asean meeting in Chang Mai in Thailand in December where her advocacy to turn the Chang Mai Initiative into a bigger more quick disbursing standby fund would be decided.
Dureza stressed that it is not a "picnic" for the Arroyo to go abroad to attend to her and the country's international commitments, adding that benefits of these international trips would be felt by the countries and the Filipinos beyond her term in 2010. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (November 3, 2008 issue)
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