| PGMA to push for welfare of small entrepreneurs amid global crisis |
|
LIMA, Peru (via PLDT)-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will
push for the welfare of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country
during the 16th APEC Leaders Summit here which opens Saturday. The President and the other leaders of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will hold a dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on the first day of the summit. She will be accompanied by the three Philippine representatives to the ABAC, a group comprising of widely recognized business leaders from the Asia Pacific rim. The ABAC members will present specific recommendations to the APEC leaders during their dialogue right after the APEC Leaders’ Retreat 1 at the 7th Floor of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) convention center here on Saturday afternoon. Among these recommendations are: collaboration and activity-based regulations within and across APEC economies to address the global credit contraction; acceleration of APEC regional economic integration; addressing problems on food supply and prices; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and support for the development of SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region. These and other recommendations will be formally issued to the APEC Economic Leaders for critical consideration by the APEC policy-makers. Long before the global credit crunch, the President had been underscoring the importance of SMEs in national development and the fight against poverty as among the priority programs under her administration’s 10-point agenda of creating six to 10 million jobs. The President has directed the release of P100 billion to various microfinance institutions to support SMEs which, she said, are crucial in creating a robust middle class, a key factor of her vision for the Philippines to attain first world status in 20 years. After the dialogue with the ABAC group, arrangements are being made for the President to hold bilateral talks with other APEC leaders including a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Capping the first day of the APEC Leaders forum is a gala dinner and cultural performance to be hosted by Peru President Alan Garcia Perez. at the MOD Caceres Esplanade in honor of the visiting APEC leaders. |
| PGMA to grace inauguration of Rizal Park, Peru’s first park named after nat’l hero of another country |
|
LIMA, Peru – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead the unveiling
tomorrow of the bust of Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, at the
Rizal Park here -- Peru’s first public park named after the national hero of
another country. The President is scheduled to arrive at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport Saturday morning to attend the 16th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) Convention Center. From the airport, the President will proceed to the Hotel Las Americas Pardo at Calle Gen. Borgono in the Miraflores district, where she is billeted during her two-day stay in Peru. She will then motor to the Rizal Park at the La Molina District where she will be welcomed by Honor Guards bearing the Philippine and Peruvian flags. To welcome the President at the Rizal Park are La Molina District Mayor Luis Dibos Vargas Prada; Señor Lic. Raul Diez Canseco Terry, former Peru vice president and president/founder of the Organizacion Educativa de Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola; Philippine Ambassador to Chile and Peru Consuelo “Baby” Puyat Reyes, and Philippine Honorary Consul to Peru Arq. Ramiro Salas Bravo, Peru’s former tourism minister. The bust-unveiling ceremonies will feature the singing of the national anthem of the two countries, followed by the welcome remarks of Mayor Prada who will usher the President to the foot of the bust of Dr. Jose P. Rizal for the breaking of the cloth-wrapped wine bottle, a customary practice in Peru during inaugural rites. Mayor Prada will then hand over to President Arroyo the symbolic key to the District of La Molina. Designed by Czech sculptor Hanstroff, the bronze bust of the Philippine national hero is placed atop a monument-type pedestal where four inaugural markers are mounted. Inscribed in one of the markers are the words, “Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Heroe Nacional de Filipinas, Nacionalista, Reformador Political, Escritor, Linguistica y Poeta, 1861-1896.” Inscribed in another marker are the formal inaugural rites led by the President and witnessed by Mayor Prada. The establishment of Rizal Park here was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Peru and the municipality of La Molina. |
| PGMA to get honorary doctorate degree in science, economics and administration from leading Peru University |
|
LIMA, PERU – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday will be conferred
an honorary doctorate degree in science, economics and administration by the
Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola, one of Peru’s most distinguished and
prestigious educational institutions. The conferment ceremonies, which will be held at Calle Los Jilgueros, corner Avenida La Fontana here, will give the President the distinction of being the first foreign head of state and government to be so honored by the university. The President is arriving at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport tomorrow morning to join other heads of state and government attending the 16th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting. From the airport, she will be immediately whisked to the Hotel Las Americas Pardo at Calle Gen. Borgono, corner Avenida Pardo, in the Miraflores District where she is billeted. The conferment ceremonies will be held after the unveiling of the bronze bust of Dr. Jose P. Rizal at the newly-named Rizal Park in La Molina District. Upon her arrival at the Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola, the President will be welcomed by university officials led by Señor Lic. Raul Diez Canseco Terry, the president and founder of the Organizacion Educativa de Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola. She will be ushered to a holding room of the university for the donning of the hood and gown before the processional walk to the auditorium. After delivering his welcome remarks, Señor Canseco Terry will confer on the President the honorary doctorate degree. Following the conferment rites, the President will proceed to the university’s Administrative Exchange Lounge for the reception in her honor. From the Universidad de San Agustin de Loyola, the President will motor to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) Convention Center for the formal opening of the 16th APEC Economic Leaders Summit. The Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola is named after the Catholic missionary who was noted for his exemplary virtues of love, solidarity in spirit, unwavering faith and values in a world filled with materialism and violence. In 1995, the Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola was the first university in Peru granted recognition by the CONAFU (Consejo Nacional para la Autorizacion de Funcionamiento de Universidades) to prepare the career paths of its students and graduates in keeping with the sustainable growth of Peru. The university’s educational innovations include teaching new concepts of molding young people to become professionals in the fields of science, humanities, and non-formal education, and the inclusion of courses in English to make the students more competitive in both national and international labor markets. |
| PGMA bats for equal and freer trade at APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Peru |
|
LIMA, Peru -– President Gloria Macapagal would push for the
early conclusion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of Talks
during the 16th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting
here on Saturday to promote equal and freer trade. The President and other leaders of the 21-member APEC are expected to support the call for the Doha Round’s resumption after they dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The dialogue shall be held at the 7th Floor of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) Convention Center here Saturday afternoon. Nine of the APEC countries are also members of the G20 which held talks in Washington last week. The G20 is also calling for a conclusion of the seven-year Doha Round of global trade talks. WTO negotiators have been trying to reach an agreement since 2001 to cut agriculture subsidies and tariffs on industrial goods that some developing countries perceive to be in favor of developed economies. The President has been strongly calling for the resumption of the Doha Talks right after negotiations collapsed when developing and developed countries failed to reach a compromise on cutting tariffs and farm subsidies. As chairman of the of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006, the President immediately pitched for the resumption of the stalled WTO talks, and further discussions on the possibility of establishing a free-trade agreement among APEC member economies. The President had invited WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy to the 12th Asean Summit in Cebu City in 2006, asserting 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." At the APEC Leaders Meeting here, the President would also pitch for the $80-billion ASEAN+3 crisis fund that was proposed at the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing in October this year. |
