Arroyo graces Cabinet meeting in Syria

December 03, 2010

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has recently graced a Cabinet meeting, not in the Philippines but in Syria which is preparing its economic and social development plan.

Arroyo, the incumbent representative of the second district of Pampanga, met the Syrian Cabinet on Wednesday to share the experience of Asia, Southeast Asia and the Philippines in dealing with the worst global economic crisis since the 1930s.

In her speech, Arroyo said the two giant countries — China and India, both populous and rich in natural resources — continue to outperform all other countries.

Meanwhile, small, export-dependent economies, also known as Asia’s tiger economies, were the worst hit by the economic crisis.

Arroyo also noted that the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam and other emerging and populous countries with high private consumption continued to enjoy positive growth throughout the global downturn.

She said the Philippines, under her term, well before the advent of the global crisis, already embarked on painful but necessary measures such as:

# fiscal reforms;

# stringent monetary stability;

# investments in major public infrastructure and education.

She said these bitter reforms led to 42 consecutive quarters of growth.

It culminated into the fastest growth rate in the Philippines in 30 years: 7.9% for January to June this year, the last six months of her administration.

The former state leader said this achievement becomes more significant considering the crises that existed during that period:

# global financial crisis;

# high oil, food, or commodity prices, and

# the various calamities hit the country.

She also said the most important challenge was to achieve balanced and inclusive growth.

She said this can be achieved by addressing the social costs that will inevitably arise as the number of the poor expands due to the quickened pace of development.

Arroyo highlighted the economic and market reforms that Syria is pursuing and its resultant double digit export growth rates and the continuous positive GDP performance of the country.

She also supported Syria’s further cultural and economic engagements with other countries.

She thanked the government of Syria for its warm diplomatic relations and courtesies accorded to the Philippines during her Presidency.

She cited the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus in 2008, her State Visit in 2009 and Syria’s support in the Philippines’ bid for observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“The world continues to be fraught with uncertainty that nations still struggling with development must look to each other for mutual support…if we take to heart the lessons of recent history, embrace the virtues of creativeness, flexibility and pragmatism, and look for the opportunities as well as the perils that reside in our interdependence, we shall be rewarded for the risk…we too shall find the path to prosperity most suited for us,” she said in her speech.

Aside from the meeting with the Syrian Cabinet, Arroyo is set to conduct dialogues with senior officials of the Syrian government and the academe to share her knowledge and experiences on economic and social development.

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices.  Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world.  As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years.  Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila

Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple:  after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave.  From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City.  From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.