FVR off to China on trade mission

In a continuing effort to bring back foreign investors to the Philippines, former President Fidel Ramos leaves today for Hainan, China to attend the founding council meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia led by China President Jiang Zemin, Malaysia Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad, former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, former Japan Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, the King of Nepal and other participants from 24 countries to strengthen dialogue, coordination and cooperation among Asian countries.

The Forum for Asia council meeting chaired by provincial foreign affairs office Director-General Chen Ci will be held at the Boao Golden Coast Hotel in Hainan, a special economic zone situated in China’s southernmost province.

In September 1998, former leaders of some Asian countries led by Hawke, Nakasone and Ramos initiated in Manila the establishment of Forum for Asia, an initiative to position Asia in the 21st century in a serious bid to establish a prosperous, stable and harmonious new Asia that shall advance equality, mutual benefit and coexistence between Asia and other regions.

FVR, who just returned to the Philippines last Feb. 24 after a three-day trip to Osaka, Japan where he keynoted the second International Forum on "Asia Looking to the Future" hosted by the Osaka International House Foundation, attended yesterday the 15th anniversary of EDSA People Power revolution which caused the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Ramos joined his fellow EDSA I heroes – former President Cory Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin as well as President Arroyo – to unveil the historical marker citing the EDSA shrine as a "holy ground" dedicated to the millions of unnamed Filipinos whose Love of God and country made possible the two People Power revolutions.

FVR said People Power I and II, though they happened nearly 15 years apart, should not be viewed as separate incidents but as part of the century-old struggle of Filipinos for independence.

"This is the continuing revolution. We are not yet fully there. Edsa I and Edsa II are merely the benchmarks of our progress toward full, mature and independent nationhood," he said.

On his fourth trip overseas after GMA assumed the presidency last Jan. 20, FVR, who wishes to be simply called as "Mr. Citizen," said he has volunteered to offer these opportunities to the Arroyo administration as "a way of helping our country gain the confidence of potential investors and traders."

As chairman of the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDEV), a non-profit, non-stock organization founded in January 1999, and as special representative of President Arroyo, FVR has been invited to participate in at least 16 international conferences, roundtables and assembles abroad for the year 2001 at no government expense.

FVR was recently in Davos, Switzerland last Jan. 25-30 to attend the World Economic Forum attended by 1,500 government, business leaders and scholars in Hong Kong last Feb. 14 to 16 as keynote speaker of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) "Review 200" awards and to meet with business leaders; and in Japan last Feb. 21-24 where he met with major players and investors such as the Matsushita (Electronics), Tokushukai (medical care) and Jetro (external trade) groups.

In his speeches abroad, FVR cited the importance of fostering democracy in tandem with the free market and how democracy can work for the poor and the common people in the Asia-Pacific region even as he noted the new Philippine government’s efforts to pursue a comprehensive and do-able action plan for economic recovery.

He also stressed that a strong civil society – as we have in the Philippines, is absolutely essential for sustained peace and development particularly for developing countries.