PRESIDENT Arroyo will apprise world leaders and top business executives of developments in the evolution of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) into a “formidable bloc” when she attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week.      

She will leave for Zurich on Thursday morning and fly on to Davos the next day to keynote a WEF session on Asean’s economic roadmap.               

“The participation of President Arroyo provides her the opportunity as chair of the Asean to draw attention to the Asean agenda among global leaders and decision makers and highlight the progress we are making towards economic integration,” said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in a statement.         

This year’s WEF meeting, themed “The Shifting PowerEquation,” is expected to draw 2,000 leaders from business, politics, the academe, the media, and civil society.      

Bunye added that “coming on the heels of our successful hosting of the Asean summit, the Davos meetings will enable the Philippines as Asean chairman to present the emergence of the Asean community as a formidable bloc as it celebrates 40 years of existence.” Aside from the WEF session on the Asean’s economic roadmap, Mrs. Arroyo will attend the WEF event centered on the Asean’s 40 years of existence and its future.    

At the sidelines, she will meet with WEF chairman and founder Klaus Schwab; William Rhodes, chief executive officer of Citibank; and Richard Clark, chief executive officer of Merck and Co. Inc.    

She and other leaders will be feted with a dinner by Maurice Amon, chairman of SICPA Holding SA, reputed to be a global leader in security inks for banknotes and value documents.     

She will also have meetings with Prakash Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja Group and Amas Bank; Kenneth Tuchman, TeleTech chairman; the Duke of York; and Intel Corp. chairman Craig Barret.

CONGRESS inched closer to ratifying the final version of the 2007 budget bill after the bicameral conference committee on Wednesday rendered a report endorsing that the money measure be submitted to Malacañang for signing into law by President Arroyo.

Philippine imports probably grew at a slower pace in November as global crude prices eased and purchases of electronic items weakened, economists said.

PRESIDENT Arroyo will apprise world leaders and top business executives of developments in the evolution of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) into a “formidable bloc” when she attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week.

THE pace of disposal by sale of banks’ nonperforming assets is expected to quicken this year with the banks’ agreement to lower prices of foreclosed assets offered for sale.

THE Filipino consumers’ confidence level is at an all-time high with their worries over the economy, job prospects, and political stability continually easing, according to findings of global consumer research outfit ACNielsen on Wednesday.

IT is possible the Arroyo government might miss last year’s economic target, as initial figures indicate a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of as low as 5.3 percent and up to 5.6 percent, a senior planning official on Wednesday said.

WHOEVER comes out the beneficial owner or owners of 33,133,064 shares in San Miguel Corp. will no longer get a seat on the board of San Miguel.