Sofitel Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
7 October 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III was welcomed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Sofitel Hotel in Nusa Dua for the plenary and break-out sessions of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Dialogue with Leaders.

President Aquino is grouped in cluster three with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the break-out sessions.

The three economic leaders are accompanied by twelve ABAC members: Mitsubishi Corporation Corporate Adviser Hidetoshi Kamezaki (Japan), IPN Chairman and CEO Alfonso Garcia Miro (Peru), Singapore Business Federation CEO Ho Meng Kit (Singapore), Magsaysay Inc. President and CEO Doris Ho (Philippines), LVK Group of Companies Director Hafimi bte Abdul Haadii (Brunei Darussalam), Laurentian Bank Board Chairman Isabelle Courville (Canada), CODELCO Board Chairman Gerardo Jofre (Chile), XY Group Chairman Yan Yunsong (China), Mexico Group Vice President for International Relations Juan Rebolledo (Mexico), Supervisory Board Basic Element Chairman Oleg Deripaska (Russia), US National Center for APEC President Monica Whaley (USA) and Magsaysay Inc. President and CEO Doris Magsaysay-Ho. Ms. Ho served as the President’s facilitator during the session.

According to Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang, the President’s main mission in the dialogue sessions is to attract international CEOs and business officials to invest in the Philippines. He further said that President Aquino’s selling grounds in promoting Philippines are its macro-economic and political stability, low inflation and interest rates, developing infrastructure and stable economic growth in the Philippines.

ABAC Chairman Wishnu Wardhana conveyed in a report that in order to achieve this year’s theme “Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth,” the leaders should take into consideration the group’s priorities and recommendations. Among these are empowering women and unleashing their potentials; major infrastructure investments across the region; more liquid, integrated and stable financial markets, new financial solutions to address credit gap for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs); new value chains; ensuring that the leaders’ respective economies remain open to cross-border investment; and promote broad understanding of the benefits of foreign direct investments (FDIs).

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