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HONG KONG (via PLDT) -- The sufficiency of rice on the table
of every Filipino is on the mind of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as she
continues her three-day working visit to this prosperous former British
colony.
A net importer of the cereal like the Philippines, Hong Kong buys 80 percent
of its rice supply from Vietnam.
In her keynote speech at the annual Credit Suisse’ Asian Investment
Conference (AIC), the President stressed that the “slowing of the economies
in North America and Europe is top of mind in our calculations to protect
our own economy.”
“To that end,” she said that her government had come up with a three-pronged
program which includes “blunt(ing) the global rise in the cost of energy and
rice” by “providing targeted relief to the poorest amongst us who suffer the
most from the high global price of energy and food.”
The President explained that “these global forces are putting more strain on
our working poor as prices for commodities like rice and fuel increase.”
The Philippines is a “price-sensitive nation,” she said, and while the
country’s microeconomics are strong, “the benefits are still working their
way down more slowly than we want to lift up our citizens who live and work
paycheck to paycheck.”
The President told her audience that the best thing we can do in the short
term is provide responsible, targeted relief to those most in need.”
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