Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win will meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when he visits the Philippines on 20-21 February 2005.

Prime Minister Soe Win will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nyan Win and other officials.

Prime Minister Soe Win’s visit is part of his official round of visits to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries after he assumed office as Prime Minister of Myanmar in 19 October 2004.

The President first met Prime Minister Soe Win in November 2004 at the sidelines of the 10^th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will discuss with Prime Minister Soe Win bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual concern, such as opportunities for cooperation in the areas of trade and investment.

About 50 percent of Myanmar’s land area is covered with forests. More than 8,570 species of plants can be found, including 2,300 species of trees, 850 kinds of orchids, 97 varieties of bamboo, and 32 types of cane. The Philippines has a thriving furniture and construction industry which complements very well Myanmar’s natural resources export industry. Furniture manufacturers can source their raw materials, like teak and rattan from Myanmar.

Myanmar's gems are famous in the world. The Mogok region yields the best rubies. Sapphires of quality are also found in Myanmar and so is high quality jade. So far Myanmar produces 36 types of precious stones and gems. The Philippine jewelry industry would like to meet with their Myanmar counterpart to explore and agree on the arrangements for the sourcing of semi-precious stones from Myanmar.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today visits Pangasinan for the second time this month to promote agriculture as part of her 10-point agenda tour mission: to give "Opportunities for livelihood and create 10 million jobs"

In her full day’s schedule, the President is set to award Land Bank checks to farmer’s cooperative and women associations. She will also be inaugurating projects of the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

The Chief Executive has said that the support given to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is crucial to the generation of jobs. That is why Government Financial Institutions (GFI’s) are being tapped to enhance the access of three million entrepreneurs to credit, technology and marketing information.

Based on the October 2004 Labor Force Survey report, employment growth in services was at 659,000 and industry at 159,000. The report also showed that 666,936 new jobs were created by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). More than P20 billion was lent to SMEs, while micro-credit amounting to more than P2 billion was provided to some 281,078 micro finance borrowers from January to September 2004.

In Binalonan, President Arroyo, assisted by Land Bank President Margarito Teves, will award seven Land Bank checks worth P 1.2 million to the Balaoen Multi-Purpose Cooperative with 800 members, and to six women associations with 72 members. The six women associations will receive P1 million, while the Bolaoen Multi-Purpose Cooperative will receive P 203,000. The multi-purpose cooperative is engaged in grain and palay trading while the women associations are trading various commodities.

In Dagupan City, the President, with Speaker Jose De Venecia and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, will lead the inauguration of three new facilities of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (BAFR-NIFTDC). These are the Molobicus Building, the live fish market and the aquarium building.

The Molobicus Building is the office of French and Filipino scientists working on the development of saline tilapia (molobicus) for the project "Genetic Selection for a Salinity Tolerant Tilapia Through Hybridization." The project, which started in 1998, is in collaboration with the Center of the International Cooperation for Research and Development in Agricultural Science (CIRAD), a French scientific organization specializing in development-oriented agricultural research for the tropics and sub-tropics.

The P6.25-million project will optimize production in more than 240,000 hectares of brackish water ponds, reinvigorate the shrimp industry and spur development of more than 1,000 has. of new brackish water fishponds, pens and cages. The project is aimed at producing larger and high quality tilapia for commercial processing and export.

A project contract signing between BFAR and AKVAPLAN-NIVA, a consulting agency providing aquaculture services and technologies, will also be witnessed by the Chief Executive. The project, which is covered by a P 19- million NORAD grant (Norwegian Agency for Cooperation and Development), focuses on environmental monitoring and modeling of aquaculture in the Philippines. This will enable the country to scientifically identify and open new areas for aquaculture in marine, brackish water and fresh water bodies of water and predict fish kill.

The live fish market is expected to spur development in the ornamental fish industry by creating livelihood opportunities in the breeding of aquarium fish and other high value species. It will benefit more than 2,800 fishermen and fish traders every year and will open opportunities to small fishermen in increasing their profit by 30%.

The President will be presented with a Plaque of "Hipon Ni Gloria" (Gloria Shrimp) by Speaker Jose de Venecia, Sec. Arthur Yap, BFAR Dir. Malcom Sarmiento and NIFTDC Chief Westly Rosario.

Many of our local governments have expressed willingness to implement identification plans that will help identify and track the movement of suspicious persons at the barangay level.

This is an earnest effort to strengthen vigorous grassroots vigilance.

The ID system is about the safety of every Filipino from criminal elements and terror groups at a time when they are using highly sophisticated means to elude detection and communicate with each other.

Every community must aggressively push to make our society a better and safer place to live in.

We have every reason to raise the alarm considering that even amidsts the positive signs in our economy, there is still a pressing need to improve our fiscal condition and to render our growth firm and sustainable.

The current upbeat mood can only be sustained if we have the essential fiscal ingredients in place.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) in the provinces in a move to give opportunities for livelihood and generate more jobs, which is part of her 10-point pro-poor agenda.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in a radio interview this morning, said SMEs and ICTs are considered the growth industries that could spur development and economic growth in the countryside.

"The government is offering SMEs all possible assistance it could extend because of the possible jobs these could generate, " the Secretary, who is also Presidential Spokesman, said.

He said that with 800,000 registered SMEs in the country, and each could at least provide one job, then that would mean 800,000 jobs.

In the same breath, the government is bent on developing the country’s ICT industry into a billion -dollar global industry, so it could be at par with other nations.

The Press Secretary cited the high demand for telemarketers by call centers that have set up offices in major cities in the country, like Baguio, Davao and Cebu , and these all redound to more jobs and investments pouring into the country.

BINALONAN, Pangasinan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo distributed today seven checks worth P1.2 million to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here as part of her 10-point agenda tour to open opportunities for livelihood and create 10 million jobs during her term.

The President arrived here at 10:30 A.M. and awarded the checks to the recipients before inaugurating the new Binalonan Public Market financed through a P50-million loan from Quedancor, a government financing institution.

Some 1,000 residents and local officials led by House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Governor Victor Agbayani, Vice Governor Oscar Lambino and Mayor Ramon Guico, the president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), welcomed the Chief Executive at the new public market.

Among those accompanying the President were Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Land Bank president Margarito Teves.

The President awarded the Land Bank checks to the Balaoen Multi-Purpose Cooperative that is engaged in grains and palay trading and the six women associations that are trading various commodities.

The President said the checks would benefit not only Binalonan but the different entrepreneurs in the province as well.

She said the check distribution demonstrates her inaugural address centerpiece in June last year to create six to 10 million jobs by helping three million entrepreneurs in the country.

The October 2004 Labor Force Survey report put employment growth in services at 659,000 and industry at 159,000. The report also showed that 666,936 new jobs were created through micro, small and medium enterprises.

Malacañang said today it is leaving to Congress to decide which version of the Expanded Value Added Tax bill to adopt as long as the government revenue target of P80 billion is met.

In a radio interview this morning, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said that whichever final form of the VAT bill is passed, the important thing is the government meets its revenue target.

"Maybe, we should concentrate on the P80 billion. If we reach that, we’ll be okay, if we don’t, then we have to look for other ways," he said.

A strong version of the VAT, Bunye said, would help achieve the P80 billion revenue target even if only three of the eight revenue bills being pushed by Malacañang are approved.

Two of these, the "sin tax" law and the lateral attrition law, have already been passed and are expected to raise a combined P25 billion in new revenues, leaving P55 billion for the VAT and other tax bills to fill.

"It is possible that we could get the balance in just one shot, depending on the kind of VAT measure that Congress will pass," Bunye said.

A less strong version of the VAT bill, Bunye said, means that the government would have to look for other sources of revenues to fund development programs.

The Press Secretary said he believes in the wisdom of the legislators and "we leave it up to them."

DAGUPAN CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened today the country’s first-ever live fish market here that is expected to benefit more than 2,800 fishermen and fish traders annually, aside from increasing the profit of small fishermen by as much as 30 percent.

The President proceeded to the 24-hectare Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (BFAR-NIFTDC) in Barangay Bonuan-Binloc here after inaugurating earlier the P50-million new public market in Binalonan, Pangasinan and awarding P1.2 million worth of checks to finance the livelihood projects of a farmers’ cooperative and six women associations in the same town.

The live fish market project is expected to become a model for all regions in the Philippines by providing fishermen the opportunity to sell their live catch, whether these are lapu-lapu (grouper), seabass, aquarium fish, ulang ( lobster), tilapia and others, at premium prices.

The live fish market is also expected to create livelihood opportunities in the breeding of aquarium fish and other high-value species.

NIFTDC Director Westly Rosario said the live fish market has been patterned on similar successful projects in Thailand and Indonesia that sell only aquarium fish.

The President also inaugurated two other infrastructure projects at the BFAR-NIFTDC compound.

One of the projects is the Molobicus Building that houses Filipino and French scientists working on the development of saline tilapia in collaboration with the French scientific organization Center of International Cooperation for Research and Development in Agricultural Science (CIRAD).

The other project is the Aquarium Building that showcases the different indigenous fish species of high economic value, including the "ludong," an exotic fish from the Agno River priced at P2,500 per kilo.

Assisting the President during the inauguration of the facilities were French Ambassador Rene’e Veyret, Norwegian Embassy Charge d’ Affaires Trine Joranli, House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento, NIFTDC Director Westly Rosario, and the Filipino, French and Norwegian scientists working on collaborative projects at NIFTDC.

The President also witnessed the signing of a contract between the BFAR and the Norwegian agency AKVAPLAN NIVA on a project covered by a P19-million grant from the Norwegian Agency for Cooperation and Development (NORAD). The project, which focuses on environment monitoring and modeling of aquaculture, will enable the Philippines to scientifically identify and open new areas for aquaculture in marine, brackish water, and fresh water bodies and predict fish kills.

The President was presented later with a plaque of "Hipon ni Gloria," an indigenous freshwater prawn that performs 20 percent better than other strains, has a shorter larval rearing period, and higher survival rate.