APEC to meet in Manila

APEC to meet in Manila

MANILA (AFP): Pacific Rim business chiefs who will be offering advice to Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders are to hold their first meeting here next week, the group's secretariat said yesterday.

Philippine President Fidel Ramos will formally open the June 14-16 APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) meeting, an official statement said.

ABAC was created after officials attending the APEC summit in Osaka in 1995 recognized the role of the private sector in powering the economic growth of the region.

Each of the APEC member economies have named prominent business leaders to the ABAC, including Frank Shrontz, chairman of Boeing Co., Minoru Murorushi, president of Japan's Itochu Corp. and Roberto Romulo, a former Philippine foreign secretary who is now chairman of the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co.

The ABAC meeting is part of preparations for the APEC summit in Subic Bay freeport, northern Philippines, in November.