RP leader leaves for Hongkong for investment conference

By Ronron
March 30, 2008

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo left for Hongkong on Sunday afternoon to speak at an investment conference and meet with Filipino workers there.

Arroyo left via Philippine Airlines flight PR 306 shortly past 3pm together with First Gentleman Jose Miguel-Arroyo, their son Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo, and some Cabinet Secretaries.

“Our trip to Hongkong is dedicated to meeting with our strong OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) contingent in Hongkong and to meet with business leaders to encourage them to continue to make strong investments in the Philippines,” Arroyo said in her departure statement.

On her first night in China’s Special Administrative Region, Arroyo will be received by the Hongkong’s Filipino community at the Tiffin Lounge of the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the First Couple will be billeted.

According to a statement from the Presidential Palace on Saturday, the reception “will feature a presentation by the Development Bank of the Philippines about its Peso Hedging Program, and by the Land Bank of the Philippines about its I-Net Negosyo Program and OFW Cash Card.

“We are taking the opportunity to meet with our precious OFW’s and introduce a series of programs we are taking to mitigate the strengthening of the peso against the dollar,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo will then deliver a keynote speech during Monday’s 2008 Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference, which runs until April 3 at the Island Shangri-la Hotel and the Conrad International Hotel.

“The fact that I have been asked to deliver the keynote address at the Asia Investment Conference in Hongkong to over a thousand investors and fund managers underscores the interest the outside world has in the growing stability and economic fortunes of the Philippines,” Arroyo said.

“I am proud to once again carry the banner of our nation and lead the charge for even more investments in our great nation,” she added.

The chief executive said her trip is consistent with her government’s efforts to strengthen the economy “through aggressive outreach to investors and to enhance our cooperation with governments in the region like Hongkong.”

“One central component of our economic plan has been steady and consistent investment by my government in strengthening our regional political and economic engagement,” she said.

This is on top of what she said as having diversified the domestic economy, “built up our foreign reserves, stimulated a surge of foreign investment and made heavy government investments in human and physical infrastructure.”

“Taken together, all of these efforts – our economic plan at home and our foreign engagement abroad – have helped prepare us for the global economic forces that are affecting the Philippines today,” Arroyo said, referring to the “major economic slowdown in North America, a historic spike in the price of oil and a near crippling spike in the price of rice,” among others.

The President will return to the country Tuesday./DMS