Closer APEC economic, security ties pushed

HANOI — President Arroyo arrived here last night for the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit, with plans for bilateral meetings with other heads of state, including US President George W. Bush.

Mrs. Arroyo arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport at 7:15 p.m. with a lean delegation that includes Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and some lawmakers led by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago.

"I am to make the Philippines a key player in the emerging economic and security synergies of the region, considering our strategic location in the Pacific Rim and the millions of overseas Filipinos whose presence is felt in building and bridging nations across the Pacific," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"The RP-US strategic alliance to fight terror and poverty will be on top of my talks with President Bush in line with the larger APEC agenda of human security and economic cooperation," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo and her party are billeted at the Hotel Nikko. At 8 p.m., the President met with members of the Filipino community at the hotel’s Tao Li Room.

She is scheduled to have separate one-on-one meetings this morning with various heads of state on strengthening of security and economic cooperation in the region before the start of the APEC Leaders’ Retreat I at 2 p.m. at the National Convention Center.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila, who came here days ahead of Mrs. Arroyo, said that apart from Mr. Bush, Mrs. Aquino is also scheduled to meet with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Arrangements for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin are tentatively set for tomorrow.

There will be a dialogue between the heads of state and representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council late in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Mrs. Arroyo will attend Mass at the Archbishop’s House in Hanoi at 7:30 a.m. before attending the second APEC Leaders’ Retreat.

The APEC heads of state would be reading the Leaders’ Declaration tomorrow afternoon.

Favila said as far as trade is concerned, the President would urge her counterparts during the bilateral meetings to help jumpstart the failed Doha talks under the World Trade Organization to be held in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The President will ask them that we all focus on the resumption of the (trade) talks," Favila told reporters here.

He said there are no specific or bilateral trade matters that would likely be taken up.

He said resolving the differences between the US and the European Union over farm subsidies would be a major step toward reviving Doha.

"What I’m trying to say is that we cannot be competitive in the agricultural sector if there are substantial subsidies being provided by the bigger economies," Favila said.

He said rich nations should "bear in mind the needs of developing countries and implement policies and similar conditions that ought to be conducive to our respective economies."

The 21-member APEC, meanwhile, agreed to extend the life of the alliance’s counter-terrorism task force or CTTF up to 2008.

Ambassador Benjamin Defensor, CTTF chair, said the task force had performed well, prompting APEC to keep it alive at least until 2008.

"The counter-terrorism task force is supposed to fade in the sunset this year because (its) mandate... is only up to this year, but because of the performance of the Philippines, they agreed to extend the mandate of the task force," Defensor said.

"APEC’s decision to extend CTTF’s mandate demonstrates our common resolve to further advance and secure trade in the Asia-Pacific," Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said.

"Terrorism will get into the picture because you cannot have trade without security. You cannot have a total supply chain - one of the initiatives we successfully completed this year - without securing the supply chain," Defensor said.

Defensor said Philippine initiatives in counter-terrorism will be discussed during the meetings among heads and in bilateral talks.

"Definitely counter-terrorism will be one of the items, which the President will bring out and that is one of the strong points of the Philippines because even without saying anything about counter-terrorism, we have already established that the Philippines is truly a leader in counter-terrorism," Defensor said.

One of the latest initiatives of the task force that was unanimously approved by APEC was a review of the alliance’s efforts since 2001 at combating terrorism and protecting trade and people, Defensor said.

The 121-page review as well as the policy guidelines on combating terrorism would be presented to APEC leaders today, he said. The review touched on matters like stopping terrorist financing and controlling the production and trade of portable air defense weapons.

Since its inception in 1989, the APEC region has consistently been the most economically dynamic part of the world. In its first decade, APEC member economies generated nearly 70 percent of global economic growth and the APEC region consistently outperformed the rest of the world, even during the Asian financial crisis. - With Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago