The International Board of Advisors to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, composed of global business and political leaders, dined at the Tower Club’s Taipan restaurant after a series of meetings with the President, her Cabinet and selected private sector representatives. Your columnist got an exclusive coverage of the formidable and significant forum.
On the agenda was the state of the economy, its prospects and the government’s ongoing efforts to promote development and increase foreign investment and international competitiveness.
Representing the government in the high-profile meetings were Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho; Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas; Presidential Adviser on Job Creation Luis Lorenzo; and Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon. Private sector participants included RCBC and Clark Development Corp. chairman Rizalino Navarro; Enrique Razon Jr. and Noel Mirasol, ICTSI chairman and senior vice president, respectively; Ramon Dimacali and Gil Guanio, Software Ventures International chairman and CEO, respectively.
Others who attended were the International Board of Advisors composed of Lloyds TSB Group chairman Maarten van den Bergh; senior advisor to J.P. Morgan and dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Stephen Bosworth; Unilever chairman Anthony Burgmans; Goldman, Sachs & Co. managing director E. Gerald Corrigan; IBERIA Lineas Aereas de España chairman and CEO Sabier de Irala Estévez; Mirant Corp. president and CEO Marce Fuller; Li & Fung Group chairman Dr. Victor Fung; American International Group chairman and CEO Maurice Greenberg; Avon Products chairperson and CEO Andrea Jung; former Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating; Mitsubishi chairman Minoru Makihara; Nippon Telegraph and Telephone president and CEO Masanobu Suzuki; London Business School dean, Laura Tyson; and Zuellig Group chairman Dr. Stephen Zuellig.
Advanced birthday greetings to business magnate Lucio Tan, socialites Maita Campos and Leica Carpo, Nov. 18; former Tourism Secretary Vicente Carlos, Ricky Cu-Unjieng, engineer William Golangco, socialites Nini Licaros and Myrna Borromeo, Nov. 19; Leonor "Ate" de Leon, Cary Lopez, National Artist Arturo Luz and "Banana King" Antonio Floirendo Sr., Nov. 20; Raffy Abello, Nov. 21; lawyer Jose Buenaventura, Venezia’s Louie Ysmael and Alaska Milk Corp.’s president and COO Wilfredo Uytengsu Jr., Nov. 22; Landmark’s Teddy Keng, Nov. 23.
So, how was your week?