Estrada leaves for Bangkok tomorrow for UNCTAD meet

President Estrada leaves for Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow to attend the meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which will be participated by the other heads of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Presidential Spokesman Fernando Barican announced yesterday the decision of President Estrada to accept the invitation to attend the UNCTAD luncheon meeting with the ASEAN this Saturday to be held in Bangkok.

Barican said President Estrada, accompanied by a "very small delegation" of Philippine government officials, will return to Manila Monday morning.

Barican made the announcement after the President conferred yesterday at Malacañang with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. and Deputy Executive Secretary Ramon Cardenas who handles the presidential trips abroad.

The UNCTAD meeting with the ASEAN leaders, will also be attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi Saturday morning.

"The President made that decision today after talking with Secretary Siazon, particularly because it's over the weekend, he thought it would be good time to go and come back and also because Prime Minister Obuchi is eager to meet with all the heads of governments or states of ASEAN. So the President wanted to make sure the Philippines was not un-represented," Barican said.

While in Bangkok, Barican said, President Estrada will take the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Obuchi who was responsible for the grant of highly concessional loans and official development assistance to the Philippines and other ASEAN governments adversely affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

"This is an important meeting because Japan is hosting the G-8 meeting this July," Barican pointed out.

"Prime Minister Obuchi wants to talk to all the leaders of the ASEAN so that he can present the concerns and interests of the ASEAN states at that meeting in July," he stressed.

Barican said President Estrada is scheduled to leave Friday evening via the Thai Airways commercial flight.

This will be the first foreign trip of President Estrada this year but it will be the second time he will be visiting Thailand. He went to Thailand on a state visit last Dec. 3, 1998. --