Remarks
of
Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Philippines
During a Dinner with Selected CEOs hosted by SICPA Holdings Chairman Maurise Amon
[Delivered at the Spina Room, Hotel Belvedere, Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2007]
Thank you, Mr. Amon. Thank you for your wonderful dinner that you’re hosting and thy kind words. Even though we haven’t started eating yet because I am told that in terms of the guest list and attendance, among the business meals in this forum, this is the best night. Thank you very much.
Well, as I’ve told the various audiences, I’m very happy to be here as the current chair of ASEAN. And I’m proud as current chair of ASEAN to have been able to host the ASEAN Summit at such an important time when the Doha round is faltering, ASEAN stood up and proclaim its support, we’re keeping the door of global trade open. And our trade ministers took the opportunity to discuss that again here in this world economic forum.
And when those concern about nuclear proliferation, we have stood firm in our commitment to the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718 on North Korea. And finally ASEAN is committed to expand its trade bloc, its trade area to create one of the world’s great trading blocs. So I believe the future of ASEAN is bright indeed.
And one of the things that I have talked about today also in the other audiences is that we are a strong link in the war on terrorism. We have caught in our lair… In our country, terrorism have operated freely elsewhere, when they get to our country, they got caught. And just a few weeks ago, we killed key Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf terrorists. We isolated these terrorists precisely because our peace in Mindanao is working and working well.
We have a formula that’s based on interfaith dialogue, economic development and joint security. This allows us to improve the lot of the people and to isolate the terrorists. This model is working in the Philippines and we hope such a model can also work elsewhere in the world.
And finally, and I supposed most important for you who are movers and shakers of world business, we’ve turned the corner on our economy as many of you are aware.
The credit rating agency have recognized that new revenue sources are here to stay. Our budget will be balanced. Our stock market is up. The peso is strong. This allows us to invest in job creation, better health care and more education opportunities. These are the keys to lifting the poor up. We’re doing that for the first time in a generation and I am optimistic. In short, I’m optimistic about ASEAN, I’m optimistic about the Philippines, and with all of you present here, my optimism is even doubled.
Thank you so much to all for being here.
Source: www.op.gov.ph
Macapagal-Arroyo, G. (2007). PGMA’s Remarks during a Dinner with Selected CEOs hosted by SICPA Holdings Chairman Maurise Amon. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20100615140114/http://www.op.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1777&Itemid=38
