27 July 2005, Vientiane, Laos – Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo continued to receive expressions of support for the Philippine Chairmanship of ASEAN, a day after Myanmar announced it would not be chairing ASEAN in 2006-2007.

“Everyone in ASEAN is looking forward to visiting the Philippines for the many meetings that we will be hosting as ASEAN Chair in  2006-2007.  We will be hosting Summits, Ministerial Meetings, Senior Officials Meetings and Working Group Meetings.  We can expect a large number of official visitors who will not only help boost our tourism industry but who will also encourage more tourists to come over,” Secretary Romulo said.

“In addition to ASEAN members, we can expect official visitors from our dialogue partners like Australia, China, European Commission, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia, the US and the UN.  While we would host a number of very senior officials, most of these visitors will be coming and staying in the Philippines at their own expense.  Our Chairmanship will not only be a great honor but also a wonderful opportunity to showcase to the world what the Philippines has to offer not only as a tourist destination but also as an investment and trade partner,” the Secretary said.

Secretary Romulo added that he had received several suggestions from ASEAN and other diplomats that the Philippines host meetings in other places in the Philippines. “There is great interest in seeing other parts of the Philippines. Many have asked that we consider holding some of our meetings outside Manila.  This is a proposal that we will certainly give very serious consideration and we will be consulting the Department of Tourism and the concerned local government officials on this,” Secretary Romulo revealed.

“For 2005-2006, Malaysia will Chair ASEAN with us as vice-chair. END