Asean in spotlight before UN, world stage
CEBU CITY – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is going places in world affairs.
Apart from the fact that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself will bring the political and economic momentum garnered by the 12th Asean Summit in the World Economic Forum (WEF) slated late this month in Switzerland, there is also a strong possibility that the regional grouping's engagement will be elevated to the United Nations itself.
In a recent press conference, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary and Director General for Asean Affairs Luis T. Cruz said Asean foreign ministers are now studying the possibility of holding an Asean-UN meeting sometime in July together with newly-installed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"Hopefully, the meeting, which we are now discussing with colleagues in New York, will push through," Cruz said.
Ban, who replaced Kofi Annan early this month, has been invited to the five-day regional enclave, which gets going here Wednesday.
But Cruz said that due to Ban's hectic schedule only a week into his new post, it was impossible for the new UN chief to attend the Jan. 10-15 Cebu summit.
Instead, the new UN Secretary General is scheduled to deliver a taped video message as part of the summit program, according to Cruz.
As one of the key participants in the WEF slated Jan. 25-26 in Davos, Switzerland, President Arroyo will be the lead speaker on the topic, Asean Economic World Map.
She will be joined by distinguished panelists that include Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and the prime minister of Vietnam.
In another session, the President will be a panelist on the topic, Asean Diplomatic Agenda.
The WEF is an annual meeting of key global leaders, chairpersons and executives of the world's top corporations and eminent members of international media, the academe and civil society.
At the heart of the WEF discussions is how best to move forward in shaping the global agenda, the theme for this year's annual meeting.
As the current chair of the Asean, the President will be representing a region "that is committed to working closely together to create opportunities for greater wealth, growth and progress, that is dynamic and focus of attention of global business and investors."
"The President's participation in this year's WEF is an important and significant opportunity to present to the world the economic prospects that the Philippines and Southeast Asia have to offer to global business and financiers," the Department of Foreign Affairs said.