President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leaves tomorrow, Friday, for the 14^th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting scheduled Nov. 18-19 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The President and her delegation depart Manila at 5 p.m. and arrive at the Noi Bai International Airport in time for her 8 p.m. meeting with the Filipino community at the Hotel Nikko in Hanoi.

Among the members of her delegation are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye and Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Estrella Berenguel.

On Saturday, the President will attend the ASEAN 7 Meeting Plus USA at 9 a.m. followed by bilateral meetings with the United States and Canada

She is also scheduled to hold possible bilateral talks with the leaders of Chile and Russia.

In the afternoon, the President will attend the APEC Leaders’ Retreat 1 followed by the dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council at the National Convention Center.

At 5:30 p.m., the President will keynote the closing of the Chief Executive Officers Summit and closes her day with the official dinner tendered by the host country.

On Sunday, the President will hear mass at the Archbishop Chapel before attending the 10 a.m. APEC Leaders’ Retreat 2 and official luncheon at the NCC.

In the afternoon, the Chief Executive will grace the Reading of the APEC Leaders’ Declaration before departing for Singapore at 5:30 p.m. via a chartered flight.

On Monday, Nov. 20, the President will have consecutive interviews with the CNBC television and Business Week at the Shangri-La Hotel.

This will be followed by a luncheon hosted by Temasek and a series of meetings with top Singaporean businessmen.

I embark for Hanoi carrying the banner of Philippine excellence and growing prestige in the world.

With the Philippines at the helm of ASEAN, I shall aggressively push for closer economic and security cooperation in the larger Asia Pacific basin.

The RP-US strategic alliance to fight terror and poverty will be on top of my talks with President Bush in line with the larger APEC agenda of human security and economic cooperation.

I aim to make the Philippines a key player in the emerging economic and security synergies of the region, considering our strategic location in the Pacific rim and the presence of millions of overseas Filipinos whose presence is felt in building and bridging nations across the Pacific.

The President, this year’s chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is expected to make a strong pitch for the immediate resumption of the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) talks and for further discussions on the possibility of establishing a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies.

She has emphatically asserted that breaking the deadlock in the WTO talks and "working together on trade is very important for our region, for our individual countries and the world."

The Doha Round of the WTO negotiations collapsed in July after developing and developed countries failed to reach a compromise on cutting tariffs and farm subsidies.

Senior APEC officials, who met here in preparation for the APEC Ministers and Leaders meetings, discussed proposals to restart the stalled WTO talks and pave the way for the signing of a landmark agreement possibly next year.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy arrived here ahead of the heads of state of the APEC forum countries for discussions on restarting the WTO negotiations, facilitating trade and strengthening the multilateral trade system in the Asia-Pacific region.

The President has invited Lamy to the 12^th Asean Summit in Cebu City on Dec. 11-13 to discuss with leaders of the regional grouping status of the WTO talks. Following the APEC Leaders Meeting here, the WTO official could be expected to shed further light on the outcome of Hanoi discussions on the WTO talks.

In a joint statement, the APEC ministers reaffirmed their governments’ commitment to strengthen the multilateral trading system and the need to get the Doha Round back on track.

Other agreements reached at the ministerial level include an endorsement of five model measures for Regional Trade Arrangements and Free Trade Agreements (RTAs-FTAs) in trade-in goods, action on technical barriers to trade, transparency, government procurement, and cooperation.

The APEC ministers also endorsed the 2006 counter-terrorism measures proposed by senior officials, reaffirming APEC’s determination to fight terrorism, ensure stability and a secure business environment in the region and the world.

In a parallel move, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) urged the APEC leaders to reaffirm their commitment to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round at their meeting this weekend.

At the end of the council’s three-day meeting on the promotion and facilitation of trade, investments and economic growth, 2006 ABAC chairman Hoang Van Dung pointed out that "ABAC is the most significant meeting of the region’s business community and this weekend’s APEC meeting is the first of the world economic leaders since the recent collapse the trade talks."

"The success of the multilateral round is vital to all APEC economies and the world and our meeting with the APEC leaders allows us the opportunity to stress this issue," he added.

The President set the tone of her meeting with Bush and her role in the three-day APEC forum in a statement she issued before leaving the Philippines today for Hanoi.

"I embark for Hanoi carrying the banner of Philippine excellence and growing prestige in the world," she said.

The Arroyo-Bush meeting is set for tomorrow morning before the first session of the APEC leaders at the new, $270 million National Convention Center (NCC) situated at a 64-hectare site in My Dinh, eight kilometers from Hanoi.

As chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, the President vowed to "aggressively push for closer economic and security cooperation in the larger Asia-Pacific basin. The RP-US strategic alliance to fight terror and poverty will be on top of my talks with President Bush in line with the larger APEC agenda of human security and economic cooperation."

Her objective, she added, is to "make the Philippines a key player in the emerging economic and security synergies of the region, considering our strategic location in the Pacific Rim and the millions of overseas Filipinos whose presence are felt in building and bridging nations across the Pacific."

More than 900 Filipinos, mostly professionals, are working in Vietnam, a country on the threshold of a major economic leap forward.

A big number of the Filipinos here are engaged in the construction industry as engineers, architects and other jobs requiring special skills.

Ambassador Benjamin Defensor, who heads the CTTF, said that under the leadership of the Philippines, "we were able to validate the presence of the CTTF in an economic forum by our performance."

The Philippines was elected unanimously to head the CTTF at the APEC meeting in Santiago, Chile in 2004.

Defensor said that as chairman of the CTTF, the Philippines will present the "APEC Counter-Terrorism Review,   2001-2003," the "Bible" on counter-terrorism, at the 14th APEC Leaders’ Meeting which opens at the newly constructed National Convention Center (NCC) here tomorrow.

In a message on the eve of the Leaders’ Meeting, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that  the "review of APEC's counter-terrorism efforts sums up the fruits of our collective efforts in the region. It is an authoritative  policy guide for our continuing actions ahead."

The President said that true to the commitment she made during the APEC Leaders Summit in Busan, South Korea in 2005, the Philippines hosted the first Counter-Terror Experts Conference held in July of that year.

She also commended the members of the CTTF for their commitment to safer trade and faster economic growth and for enhancing security for the people in the region. 

"Fittingly, it is in the area of counter-terrorism and secure trade where the Philippines -- an early achiever of the Millennium Development Goals -- has made one of its strongest contributions," she added.

According to Defensor, the task force was able to convince the APEC 21 economies that "we can't have trade without security."

The counter-terrorism initiatives include food defense security, point of contact network, improvement of aviation security and fight against financing of terrorism.

The President and her party left at 5:30 p.m. on board a chartered Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight for Hanoi after the departure honors at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 in Pasay City.

Upon her arrival in Hanoi this evening, the President is scheduled to meet with the Filipino community at the Hotel Nikko there.

Among those who saw the President off at the airport were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.

Accompanying the President to the two-day APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Hanoi Saturday and Sunday are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Ambassador to Vietnam Estrella Berenguel, Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Pampanga 4^th District Rep. Anna York Bondoc, Bulacan 3^rd District Rep. Lorna Silverio, Cebu 6^th District Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, Occidental Mindoro Lone District Rep. Amelita Villarosa, Presidential Adviser on International Competitiveness Ambassador Roberto Romulo, and APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force chairman Ambassador Benjamin Defensor.

Those who will accompany the President to the one-day business visit to Singapore on Monday are Secretary Romulo, Secretary Bunye, Secretary Favila, Ambassador to Singapore Belen Anota, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano, Ambassador Romulo, and Executive Director Renato Pizarro of the Investor Relations Office.

The President is scheduled to fly out of Singapore for Manila at 9:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, after a dinner to be hosted by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila is betting no less than his life on the JPEPA as a harbinger of economic growth for the Philippines, not the onerous agreement that its opponents claim would open the floodgates to the dumping of Japan's toxic waste in the country.

In an interview with members of Philippine media covering the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting here, Favila said he based his bet on the experiences of Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore which have forged free trade agreements (FTAs) with Japan.

He said the trade agreements between Japan and the three Asian countries contributed significantly to the increase in their gross domestic product (GDP) and the same could happen to the Philippines if the agreement is ratified by the Senate. 

Favila said the JPEPA envisages the lifting of tariff on almost all industrial goods within 10 years upon the effectivity of the accord.

The agreement also enhances Philippine services as it guarantees non-discriminatory treatment of Filipino professionals working in Japan.

It also establishes a formal arrangement for the acceptance of Filipino nurses and caregivers to Japan.

Favila said the JPEPA would bring immediate and long-term benefits to food processors, farmers and fishersfolk.

"FTAs with Japan have led into a significant contribution to the GDP of these economies (Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore) and there is no reason that this should not happen in our case," Favila said.

He pointed out that this could be achieved as long as the Philippines provides the proper enabling environment, and with the support of everybody.

"And cut off my head if this does not happen," Favila said.