Ramos returns from 10-day tour

Ramos returns from 10-day tour

MANILA (AFP): President Fidel Ramos arrived in the Philippines
yesterday after a 10-day, five-nation tour through South Asia and
the Middle East which he said had expanded the country's export
and investment potential.

The visit to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Qatar and Bahrain,
which together represent a fifth of humanity, was aimed at
"bringing regions closer together," he said in a nationally
televised address on arrival at the Clark economic zone in the
northern Philippines.

He said he informed leaders and businessmen of these countries
"the Philippines is back in business for good and that economic
growth is steady and growing," as well as his government's
commitment to "steady economic reforms, increased competition and
greater openness."