Former Philippine President to Open the East Asian Seas Congress 2009

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA has announced today that former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos will deliver the opening keynote address during East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2009 to be held in Manila, Philippines on 23-27 November. The former statesman was a keynote speaker and Honorary Advisor of the Congress in 2003 where he urged the participants "to work together on issues concerning natural resources, especially water, to ensure a better life for future generations."Former President Ramos remains to be one of Asia's key strategic thinkers, holding important positions in prestigious advisory boards of international economic and strategic forums. As one of the co-founders of the Baoa Forum for Asia (BFA), the Asian equivalent of the Davos World Economic Forum, he continues to espouse his framework of governance founded on a five-point program that includes people empowerment, environmental protection and economic cooperation. Currently, he serves as chair of the BFA and pushed for environmental concerns to occupy Asia-Pacific's top agenda in the Forum's 2008 annual conference. With climate change and other "massive killers such as natural disasters, it is time for policy planners and executives to tackle the longer-term environmental challenges to sustainable development," he explained.Together with 20 global opinion leaders, former President Ramos also provided input to the development of a long-term strategy on water and environment policy through the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century and the continuing World Water Forums under Crown Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, Chairman of the UN Secretary General Advisory Board (UNSGAB). He is also the Philippine representative to the ASEAN Eminent Persons Group that is tasked to draft the Charter of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Former President Ramos is also an experienced scuba-diver and underwater photographer with hundreds of open-water dives, as well as a master paratrooper and four-star general (Retired).The tri-annual East Asian Seas Congress features the Ministerial Forum on Implementing ICM for Climate Change Adaptation and the International Conference on Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Development, with the theme Partnerships at Work: Local Implementation and Good practices. Related activities include the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments (PNLG), the 2nd EAS Youth Forum and the Exhibit on Innovative Technologies and Good Practices.Learn more about the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2009 by visiting www.pemsea.org/eascongress