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BOAO, China: President Arroyo challenged movers and
shakers of the region Saturday “to use every tool available to
lift up the poor” in order to achieve equitable, sustainable
growth.
In her keynote speech at the
opening plenary session of the Boao Forum for Asia at the main hall
of the International Convention Center here, the President called on
Asian countries to learn from other nations and create their own
path to development.
“We must think outside the box,
harness technology and use innovation to break the cycle of energy
dependence and environmental degradation,” she told dignitaries
and business leaders attending the three-day conference in China’s
southernmost island of Hainan.
The President was among four
keynote speakers that also included Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the
standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress.
Mrs. Arroyo enumerated education,
technology and microfinance as the major drivers of sustainable
growth.
She cited the Philippines’
aggressive information technology investment that has brought the
Internet to every high school and its spending of more pesos for
education. She also talked about government efforts to encourage
small and microbusinesses that will eventually build an
entrepreneurial class in the Philippines.
--PNA
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