Arroyo leaves for Switzerland Tuesday

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo leaves for Switzerland on January 22 to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) and seek more investments for the Philippines. Mrs Arroyo will leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal at 12:30 p.m. after being accorded the usual military departure honors. She will go to Zurich first to talk to several international businessmen before proceeding to Davos. After Davos, the President will go to the United Arab Emirates for an investment mission. She is expected to return to Manila on January 28. Mrs Arroyo will leave Manila amid talks of a fresh destabilization attempt against her administration. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the WEF is expected to draw 2,500 participants from 88 countries, including 27 heads of state or government, 113 Cabinet members, and business leaders, religious leaders, media leaders and heads of non-government organizations. Bunye said Davos would be another opportunity for Mrs Arroyo to “share experiences and to collaborate more closely with new leaders and thinkers on a multitude of global challenges we face today." He said the President has emphasized the importance of international relations in her government's political and economic reform agenda. The WEF, which begins on January 23, would also host Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Nigeria'n President Umaru Yar'Adua, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will open the event. Among the expected topics to be discussed are the world economy in the light of the US recession and the peace in the Middle East. - GMANews.TV