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."