GMA, UN chief to meet in Jakarta

JAKARTA (via PLDT) — President Arroyo is expected to meet with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and several leaders from Africa on the sidelines of a summit of 100 world leaders from Asia and Africa in this Indonesian capital.

Mrs. Arroyo will also call for ways to mitigate the impact of rising world crude oil prices at the summit’s plenary session tomorrow.

She will likewise address the Asian-African Business Summit tomorrow along with Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudyohono of Indonesia, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Hu Jintao of China, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda. Prime Ministers Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore and Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand were also invited to speak at the event.

Annan will give the summit’s opening speech today.

Mrs. Arroyo is expected to arrive at 4:30 p.m. today and will first meet with the Filipino community here later at Shangri-La Hotel, where she is billeted.

Ambassador to Indonesia Shulan Primavera said the President is also scheduled to meet with Annan tomorrow and then possibly with Obasanjo, Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor and Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannauchi and Mongolian President Natsagiyn Bagabandi.

"The talk (with Annan) is on but I cannot tell the specifics they will discuss," Primavera said.

Mrs. Arroyo said the summit provides a good opportunity to highlight the impact of rising world crude oil prices on developing countries like the Philippines.

"Many of the ASEAN countries and Asian countries are in our situation. On the other hand, many of the African countries are oil producing countries, so it’s a good forum to make a call to the global leaders to look for a solution to mitigating the impact of this very steep surge of the prices of oil," she said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier disclosed that she will meet with six African leaders to discuss trade.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Philippines and African countries could explore the possibility of forging agreements on mining.

"We’re taking advantage to meet some of the African leaders because we don’t often meet them, we meet the Asians very often," he said.

There will also be discussions on establishing a disaster early warning system at the summit, which became a primary concern after deadly tsunamis in the Indian Ocean killed over 100,000 people last December in several countries, including Indonesia.

Mrs. Arroyo is accompanied by Bunye, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sonia Brady, Philippine Ambassador to South Africa Virgilio Reyes, Primavera, among others.

The summit, jointly hosted by Indonesia and South Africa, aims to promote closer ties between Asian and African countries.

Mrs. Arroyo was also invited to attend the summit’s golden jubilee in the town of Bandung, which is four hours by train from Jakarta. But she decided to skip it because of unspecified security risks.

The first summit of the Asian-African Conference was held there in 1955. — With Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda