President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is likely to attend the World Economic Forum in Vietnam early next month, probably her last foreign trip before she steps down from office on June 30, according to Malaca?ang. Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo on Sunday said the forum, scheduled on June 6 to 7, would give the President an opportunity to trumpet her administration's accomplishments to the international business community and the success of the recent automated elections. “Napakahalaga ito dahil ito ang pagkakataon natin upang ibida sa ating mga negosyante ng mundo. Unang-una ang magandang naging takbo ng ating halalan na harinawa ay magpapalakas ng kompiyansa ng ating mga investors. Pangalawa, mahalaga rin na ulit- ulitin sa kanila ang mahusay na patakbo ng ekonomiya,” Saludo said. (This is important because it will give us an opportunity to boast to the international business community the success of our recently conducted automated elections which hopefully will lead to more foreign investments in our country, and also to remind them of our improving economy.) Saludo said the peso continues to be strong against the dollar and the country's international reserves are at record-high despite the worldwide recession and oil price hikes in the past two to three years. “Ito ay magandang senyales para sa mga investors upang pumunta sila sa Pilipinas at lalo pang magparami ng trabaho natin dito (These are good signs for investors to invest in the Philippines),” he said. The Vietnamese government invited President Arroyo last May 12 to visit Ho Chi Minh City next month for the 19th World Economic Forum on East Asia. Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tu, also the deputy director of the HCM City Department of Foreign Affairs, delivered the invitation to President Arroyo through Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza.
