President Benigno S. Aquino III will be the keynote speaker at the opening of the conference, said Presidential Communication Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr., in a press briefing broadcast over radio station dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.

 

"This ASEM Conference is a Philippine initiative which His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III announced during the 9th ASEM Summit held in Vientiane, Laos in November 2012. This initiative has been adopted by 49 heads of state and government, the president of the European Union, and the secretary-general of ASEAN that comprise ASEM," said Coloma.

 

The theme for the conference is "Post Haiyan: A Way Forward."

 

An estimated 150 senior national and local government officials, scientists, academicians, policymakers, industry and business leaders, non-governmental organizations, leaders from the private sector, and representatives of regional and international organizations from 36 countries in Asia and Europe are expected to attend the meeting.

 

"The Philippines aims to contribute to the new global architecture that will embody new policies and principles on disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) with the ASEM Manila Conference document to be called the 'Tacloban Declaration.' This is a timely development considering that the decade-old Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) previously adopted by ASEM as the global paradigm on DRRM is about to end in 2015," said Coloma.

Source:aseminfoboard.org