SINGAPORE (via PLDT) – Saying that the Philippines is firmly on a "path to permanent economic growth and stability," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged Saturday foreign investors to invest in her country and partake of its economic surge.

"I hope that the gentlemen and ladies around this table…. and for those of you who are the movers and shakers of the business community, please come and be a part of the profitable part of the Philippines economic surge," the President said in her speech during the dinner with the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia 2007 at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

"As current head of Asean, we are particularly bullish on Asia, what we have accomplished and what we will achieve in the next 20 years," she said.

The Philippines, she added, is a good business environment getting even better.

The President pointed out that during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit last January in Cebu, "we took several important steps that put us squarely on the path to create regional community by 2015, most notably the declaration of the Asean Charter."

"I am happy to be here in the World Economic Forum not only as President of the Philippines but because the subject matter of tomorrow’s discussion is leadership in Asia," she said.

The President said the economic gains of her administration are amply demonstrated by the billions of dollars in investments pouring into the Philippines, the strong peso and the stock market, which has reached all-time highs, and the creation of six million jobs in six years.

"The world is taking notice: we believe the Philippines offers one of the best values in Asia for domestic and foreign investors," she said.

Among the examples of new investments in the Philippines are those of Texas Instruments, which plans to invest $1 billion to build new facilities for a chip plant in the Philippines.

Texas Instruments chose the Philippines as its regional hub over other locations, including China, the President said.

She stressed, however, that "the surge of investment has been anchored not only by Texas Instruments" as other giant foreign investors, including South Korea’s Hanjin, are expanding their operations in the country.

Hanjin is investing $1.65 billion in the Subic Bay Freeport in the northern Philippine province of Zambales to construct the world’s fourth largest shipyard.

Two days ago, she added, Marubeni and Tokyo Electric bought $3.4 billion worth of electric power plants in the Philippines and announced a further expansion project worth $.5 billion.

"This is happening across the board in a number of industries. Of course, we are happy that Coca-Cola Philippines is strengthening its organization and business in the Philippines. We are working to ensure this will be sustained," she said.

The President said her administration is committed to consolidating the gains it has achieved in revenue collection by making long overdue investments in human and physical infrastructure.

This includes, she said, billions of pesos of investments in education, healthcare and training, along with billions of pesos in the construction of new bridges, roads and ports to upgrade the competitiveness of the Philippines.

"We take great pride in the discipline of our administration to focus on the economy and our overall economic health. We are proud of the fact that we are prepaying our external debt," she said.

The President also expressed optimism that her government would be able to balance the budget in 2008, two years ahead of schedule.

"We are proud that we are making sure to use the gains to invest in vital social and economic needs. We will not sacrifice long term gains for short term political expediency," she stressed.

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SINGAPORE (via PLDT) – Confident that the emergence of the East Asia Community is inevitable, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Sunday the region will be up to the task of leading a more dominant role in world economic and political affairs.

"I am bullish on Asia, what we have accomplished and what we will achieve in the next 20 years. Our time has come. Asia will be up to the task of leading our people and our region into a more dominant role in world economic and political affairs," the President said in her opening speech before 200 participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia 2007 at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

The President told the participants that "when we think ahead and ponder the next 40 years, we see increasing integration and prosperity and at the same time the likelihood of greater income disparity."

"We see a more peaceful world, yet more countries with nuclear capability. We see a cleaner environment, yet in achieving that, we must first address the challenge of global warming," she said.

Balancing these contradictions would be the test of leadership in the region, she added.

She asserted that the real issue is not about leadership deficit, because the region has any number of able leaders of strong nations as well as institutions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to provide individual, regional and multilateral global leadership.

Rather, the real issue is the rapid economic rise of the region at a time when the global order has undergone enormous swings, she said.

"One swing was caused by the rise of China and India to add to the power of Japan in the region. Another was the global war on terrorism which has influenced America’s role in the world and in Asia," the President said.

She pointed out that as the major political and military player, the United States has been preoccupied with Iraq in the Middle East and other crisis areas.

This, the President said, has left the perception of a leadership deficit in Asia and has also left the impression that there is a political "opening" for others such as China and Japan to fill.

She also pointed out that China and Japan have stepped up their game, notably in coming together to facilitate peace on the Korean Peninsula. "Yet, this is the interim game: the real issue is how the region will handle the next 20 or 40 years."

As the region’s largest source of official development assistance (ODA), Japan will provide leadership to the important arena of sustainable development, she said.

"We would like to see Japan playing a leading role in contributing to integration in the region and maintaining and pursuing international peace and security as we try to forge the East Asia community," the President said.

She added that as China and India become true political and economic giants, their leadership obligations to their neighbors also increase, separate from their obligations to their own citizens.

The President said that while Japan, China and India are active participants in the East Asia summit, which has the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the driver’s seat, it is through Asean’s leadership that the vision of an East Asia Community, once unthinkable and believed unattainable in this lifetime, is gradually taking shape," she added.

As chair of Asean this year, the President recalled that during the Asean Summit last January in Cebu City, Asean exercised leadership in integration by taking several important steps to "create a regional community by 2015."

The most notable of such steps, the President said, was the declaration on the Asean Charter. "At a time of uncertainty in the world, we are proud that

Asean took a bold step forward and not a timid step back," the President said.

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SINGAPORE (via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged today the world’s top business and political leaders to look beyond the present to the next 20-40 years of an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment.

Looking 20-40 years into the future, "we see increasing integration and prosperity (but) at the same time, the likelihood of greater income disparity," the President said in her opening address before the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Asia 2007 at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

Citing the contradictions gripping the world today, the President said: "We see a more peaceful world, yet more countries with nuclear capability. We see a cleaner environment, yet in achieving that, we must first address the challenge of global warming."

"Balancing these contradictions will be the test of leadership in the region," she said.

She asserted that the real issue is not about leadership deficit, because the region has any number of able leaders of strong nations as well as institutions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to provide individual, regional and multilateral global leadership.

Rather, the real issue is the rapid economic rise of the region at a time when the global order has undergone enormous swings, she said.

"One swing was caused by the rise of China and India to add to the power of Japan in the region. Another was the global war on terrorism which has influenced America’s role in the world and in Asia," the President said.

She pointed out that as the major political and military player, the United States has been preoccupied with Iraq in the Middle East and other crisis areas.

This, the President said, has left the perception of a leadership deficit in Asia and has also left the impression that there is a political "opening" for others such as China and Japan to fill.

She also pointed out that China and Japan have stepped up their game, notably in coming together to facilitate peace on the Korean Peninsula. "Yet, this is the interim game: the real issue is how the region will handle the next 20 or 40 years."

As the region’s largest source of official development assistance (ODA), Japan will provide leadership to the important arena of sustainable development, she said.

"We would like to see Japan playing a leading role in contributing to integration in the region and maintaining and pursuing international peace and security as we try to forge the East Asia community," the President said.

She added that as China and India become true political and economic giants, their leadership obligations to their neighbors also increase, separate from their obligations to their own citizens.

The President said that while Japan, China and India are active participants in the East Asia summit, which has the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the driver’s seat, it is through Asean’s leadership that the vision of an East Asia Community, once unthinkable and believed unattainable in this lifetime, is gradually taking shape," she added.

As chair of Asean this year, the President recalled that during the Asean Summit last January in Cebu City, Asean exercised leadership in integration by taking several important steps to "create a regional community by 2015."

The most notable of which, the President said, was the declaration on the Asean Charter. "At a time of uncertainty in the world, we are proud that Asean took a bold step forward and not a timid step back," the President said.

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The various programs implemented by government, notably tough economic and financial reforms, to make the Philippines more business-friendly are paying off handsomely for the country -- now the best value in Asia.

This profile of the Philippines as a resurgent investment destination forms part of the central theme of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s message to international business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia 2007 in Singapore, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said.

In his weekly column, The View From the Palace, which comes out tomorrow (Monday), Bunye said that as hospitable a business host as the Philippines already is, the Arroyo administration is "making our economy even more business-friendly by lowering the cost of doing business through the reduction of red tape and minimizing corruption."

The President left Saturday for a state visit to Singapore and to attend the WEF on East Asia 2007, that has drawn together 300 business and political leaders from 25 countries. The two-day forum will discuss the longevity, the long-term pros and cons of East Asia’s economic growth, the impact of cross-border investments and the emergence of East Asia new multinationals.

From Singapore, the President will fly to Equatorial Guinea for a return state visit made by Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who came to the Philippines in May 2006.

"In her Singapore meetings, the President is expected to tell the movers and shakers of industry that the Philippines is the best value in Asia and there has never been a better time to invest in the Philippines," Bunye said.

The President’s Singapore itinerary includes meetings with business groups, as well as select business personalities, on the sidelines of the WEF-EA 2007.

Bunye said the selling points of the Philippines as an investment destination include its lower budget deficit, low inflation rate, strong pesos and a stock market, which has surged to historic highs over the past several months.

"The Philippines has reached a new level of maturity where we have achieved the strongest economic fundamentals in a decade," Bunye said.

"We have delivered 26 consecutive quarters of economic growth" while some of the country’s neighbors in the region were buffeted by recession during the same period, he added.

Bunye said that what is necessary now is to transform these macro-economic fundamentals into real benefits for the people. "The key to this will be to invest in human capital and physical infrastructure, which, in turn, will make the Philippines even more competitive. In a lot of these endeavors, the Philippines would welcome private sector participation."

"Because certainly, there are a lot of private sector opportunities as the likes of Texas Instruments, Marubeni, Tokyo Electric, Hanjin, Ford, Toyota have found out," he added.

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Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye rebuked on Sunday critics of the mining industry for conveniently glossing over the benefits that the country derives from the mining sector.

In his weekly column, The View From the Palace that comes out tomorrow (Monday), Bunye reminded critics of the mining industry that since the government has undertaken measures to revitalize the sector, mining projects now in various stages of development are expected to generate $6 billion foreign direct investments, $6.7 billion foreign exchange and 200,000 direct and indirect employment over the next six years.

While critics of mining "spout motherhood statements about the alleged dangers and disadvantages from mining, they cannot deny that many of the conveniences of modern life would not be possible without mining," he said.

Signed into law in 1995, the Philippine Mining Act was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2004.

Bunye said that as of this year, 24 priority mining projects are being developed by such international investors as Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Canada’s Chemical Vapour Metal Refining Inc., China’s Jinchuan, CITIC and Jilin Nickel.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has clearly defined the parameters governing the operation of mining projects in the country, Bunye said. "We welcome investors in mining who recognize that they should be good stewards of the environment, that that they should take care of the local communities and be model employers as well," he added.

"Many of the conveniences of modern life would not be possible without mining. After all, anything that cannot be grown has to be mined," said Bunye, citing the simple pencil as an example.

The pencil’s clay-mixed graphite is mined. And so its eraser whose rubber is reinforced with sulfur, calcium and barium.

Also, the pencil’s metal band is made of aluminum or brass, which is made from copper and zinc, while the paint used to color the wood, and the lacquer used to make it shine, are both made from a combination of minerals and metals, Bunye said.

He also cited coins, vehicles, light bulbs, cellular phones, machines and tools -- and even toothpaste, which requires silica, limestone, aluminum oxide and various phosphate as among assorted mineral products.

"The list goes on and on. Anyone who opposes mining, therefore, should be prepared to forego all of the above, and anything else that could not be manufactured, operated or used without mining," Bunye stressed.

Yet, it is sad to note that "some mining projects have run into a blanket and stiff opposition from all sorts of environmentalist groups before operations could even start," the Press Secretary said.

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