Sunday, January 27, 2013

Philippines to host WEF's East Asia Summit in 2014


President Benigno Aquino III said he has accepted an offer for the Philippines to host the East Asia Summit for the World Economic Forum next year.

Aquino made the announcement during a meeting with reporters at the Europe Hotel here after attending this year's WEF Annual Meeting.

"We agreed to host the East Asia Summit for the WEF in 2014," he said.

Aquino said hosting the 2014 East Asia Summit would benefit the country.

"It puts us at the center stage of the world map for that period, which is something like July or so. The details will have to be worked out, it was offered to us and I accepted to hosting the event," he said.

Aquino also said around 35 multinational companies, among them Mitsubishi and Unilever, will be coming to the Philippines “to investigate possibilities” for investments.

He said his meetings with other world leaders and with CEOs of multinational firms had been “very successful.”

“We were able to touch base with the so many other leaders of the country, of various countries … I think there’s a universal consensus both by the participants and by the Cabinet members present, our business sector, that it was a very successful meeting,” he said.

Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo said among the firms that have signified their intention to send teams to the country are “very big hedge funds” from the United States, although he declined to identify which companies these were, saying: “Obviously, some of them don’t want to be mentioned, so we cannot really mention (the companies) by name.”

“These are truly exciting times for our country. We are realizing the long-untapped potential of our country, and we are here to invite you to join us,” Aquino said, as he identified the three priority investment sectors in the country as tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure.-Interaksyon (January 26, 2013 6:35PM)

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