Former President Fidel V. Ramos [FVR] leaves on Monday, 22 June 2009, for Mumbai, India to host and co-chair the Fourth Global Meeting of the Emerging Markets Forum (EMF) to be held from 23 to 25 of June 2009. EMF is non-profit initiative of the Washington, D.C.-based Centennial Group and was created to enable senior Government officials, corporate leaders, and scholars to reach actionable conclusions on common and high priority economic, political and social issues facing emerging market economies worldwide.

In 2006, President Ramos visited India with a huge delegation covering Mumbai, Kolkota and New Delhi. It was a very successful trip bringing in more partnerships and confidence in the Phil. India trade.

The EMF gathering has been coordinated with the Bombay Chamber of Commerce (BCC) headed by Rajiv Lall, the oldest chamber of commerce in India representing more that 2,000 members, most of whom have their corporate headquarters in Mumbai, and whose combined economic activity contributes 1/3 of India’s GDP in manufacturing and services. FVR’s leadership of this global convocation of leaders takes on heightened significance given the current worldwide economic crisis, the emergence of a resilient Indian tiger economy, and the celebration of the 60th year of the establishment of Philippine-Indian relations.

FVR’s fellow co-chairs of the EMF are Michel Camdessus, former Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank (ADB). The meeting this year will focus on four main themes: “The Global Financial and Economic Crisis;” “The Role of Emerging Markets in the New Global Financial Architecture;” “The Response of Emerging Market Countries to Climate Change;” and “India 2039 – An Affluent Society in One Generation: A Determined Marathoner or an Accidental Sprinter?”

The outcome of the discussions focusing on India will be shared with the newly elected Indian Government led by two-termer Prime Minister Mohan Singh, head of the ruling Congress Party. Among the numerous distinguished participants are former Presidents Vicente Fox (Mexico); Joseph Deiss (Switzerland); Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania); Carlos Mesa (Bolivia) and former Prime Minister Kim Campbell (Canada); Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons LTD.; Governors of Central Banks; CEOs of global and Indian industrial heavyweights; and, from the Philippines, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and former Finance Secretary Roberto De Ocampo.

Simultaneously, with his leading this global meeting of the EMF, FVR will be at the head of business delegation composed of prominent Filipino-Indian entrepreneurs. Meetings between the RP delegation and Indian Chamber of Commerce counterparts will be facilitated in coordination with the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi headed by Ambassador Francisco Benedicto and the BCC, the local host of this year’s EMF meeting, with the aim of increasing trade and investments between the Philippines and India. The members of the Philippine delegation include: Chairman Ceferino Benedicto and Vice-Chair Bernard Benedicto III of Benedicto Steel; President Ram Sitaldas of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (Phils.), Inc.; CEO Cheryl Marie Natividad of Optiserve Technologies, and Arleth Mendoza of CIIF Oil Mills.

Mumbai is well-known as the sub-continent’s business and entertainment epicenter while India, the world’s second most populated nation and the world’s largest democracy, together with China, is seen as powering Asia as the world’s fastest-growing region. The combination of the four biggest emerging markets in the global economy – Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) – is new perceived to be a significant force for recovery and sustained growth in the midst of severe recession in the U.S. and Europe.

According to former President Ramos, “The partnership of BRIC and ASEAN as major emerging markets constitutes a truly ‘win-win’ force in the globalize economy of the 21st century.”

As chair of the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDEV), and the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), and as member of the governing/advisory boards of other international economic and strategic forums, FVR pursues his commitment to people empowerment, environmental protection, socio-economic diplomacy, democratic governance, and Asia-Pacific security, in order to attract investments, trade, tourism, technology exchange and other forms of cooperation beneficial to the Asia-Pacific region in general and to the Philippines in particular – at no expense to the government.

FVR will be back in Manila on Friday, 26 June 2009.

Bon Voyage, Sir and the delegation. Namaste Philippines Mabuhay India.