Arroyo backs Bush’s proposal for summit on global financial crisis

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday expressed her full support for US President George W. Bush’s proposal for the holding of a global summit of world leaders to tackle the most daunting economic crisis to confront the world since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The President said the proposed “global summit compliments the efforts of the Philippines and others to gather consensus among the different regional groups on ways to deal with the financial crisis," according to Executive Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Eduardo Ermita. There is much that the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries can share with other nations in addressing the challenges posed by the global financial debacle, Ermita said in a statement. “She underscored the importance of going into this meeting with a clear understanding that while serious measures have to be taken to address the financial crisis, fundamental principles of free and fair trade, as well as the specific challenges facing developing nations, should be properly recognized," Ermita said. President Arroyo also expressed her appreciation to President George W. Bush for offering to host the proposed summit, and to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who also offered to hold the summit at the UN headquarters in New York. On Saturday, Bush and European leaders agreed to hold a series of summits in a coordinated global effort to navigate out of the hurricane-tossed financial waters. Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso have started the ball for a global action plan to address the worldwide economic crisis. South Korea and the United Arab Emirates joined the Bush initiative to hammer out an action plan to tackle the crisis. - OPS/GMANews.TV