Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore
18 November 2014

President Benigno S. Aquino III spoke on several global issues when he gave a keynote interview during the “World in 2015” gala dinner organized by The Economist magazine. It was an event attended by about 300 people composing of top industry leaders and executives in the region.

The Economist executive editor Daniel Franklin briefed the President about The World in 2015 and started the question and answer session that lasted for more than half an hour. It included topics like the recently held Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Ebola virus, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace agreement, disaster reduction and other government programs.

President Aquino expressed his hope on the significant change brought by his meeting with China President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in Beijing.

“The mere fact that we are talking again is already a substantial change. Previously, there was a lot of rhetoric that stated one position to the exclusion of the other. Now, we are talking and the mere fact that we are talking hopefully signifies an attempt to arrive at a compromise and a just solution to the issue,” President Aquino said.

He also said that the Philippines has accomplished 82 percent of its targets when asked about the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) set to be established by end-2015.

The Chief Executive said in closing that if one is optimistic, all problems can be seen instead as challenges that make life worthwhile.

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