US-ASEAN Business Council Philippine Mission February 2001

American Companies To Meet President Arroyo in the Philippines

(Washington, DC and Manila). America's leading companies will visit the Philippines from February 25-March 1, 2001 to meet President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal and her new Cabinet. They intend to seek opportunities for new business, underline their commitment to the Philippines and understand the President's plans for the economy. The mission will be the largest foreign business delegation to call on President Arroyo since she was inaugurated.

The business mission is organized by the US ASEAN Business Council (www.us-asean.org), America's premier organization focusing on trade and investment in the Philippines, and its neighbors who comprise the ten country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The mission is will be the first major investment mission to the Philippines since President Arroyo was inaugurated on January 20, 2001. The delegation of over 20 U.S. companies will be led by the Chairman of the Council's US Philippine Business Committee and the President of the US ASEAN Business Council.

The delegation will coordinate its visit with its Philippine counterpart, the Philippine-US Business Council, which is chaired by former Secretary of Trade and Industry Mr. Rizalino S. Navarro. The business leaders will meet President Arroyo, members of her new Cabinet, and members of Congress in an effort to assess the environment for new investment in the country, and to understand how the President will handle the recovery effort in the Philippines. The delegation will be interested in reform plans, as well as efforts to stabilize the economy and fight corruption.

America's top companies will be representing key sectors such as information technology, energy and electric power, finance, agriculture and express services. Companies already confirmed to participate include: America On Line, Cargill, Chubb Financial, Cisco Systems, Edison Mission Energy, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Lone Star Investment, Lucent Technologies, New York Life, Nextel Communications, Oracle, Sequel Concepts, Southern Energy, Sun Microsystems, Texaco and United Parcel Service (UPS).

"We believe the Philippines has tremendous potential," said US ASEAN Business Council President Ernest Bower, "and that is why we are coming to Manila this month." He said, "the Philippines primary competitive advantage was its highly trained and literate people. We are committed to this country and our partners, friends and employees here. We want to understand how we can be part of the recovery effort, particularly through new investment."

In addition to discussing the potential for expanding existing investment and the attraction of new investment to the country, the mission also hopes to spearhead a series of investment road shows to the U.S. in the near future under the direction of the Philippine-US. Business Committee and the U.S.- ASEAN Business Council.

The US-ASEAN Business Council is a non-profit, national organization in the United States that works to promote increased trade and investment between the US and the member countries of ASEAN. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and maintains offices in Singapore, Manila, and Jakarta. For more information visit the Council's website at www.us-asean.org.

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