Arroyo to focus on terrorism, bird flu, poverty at APEC summit.

MANILA, Nov. 17 Kyodo

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Thursday before departing for a two-day annual summit of Asian and Pacific countries that she hopes for greater regional cooperation in tackling the problems of terrorism, bird flu and poverty.

''I will be focusing particularly on three key areas of concern and relevance to the Philippines: cooperation on antiterrorism, cooperation on preparation for the avian flu and investments in our pro-poor program here in the Philippines,'' Arroyo said in a pre-departure statement.

Arroyo will join leaders from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum holding their annual gathering in the South Korean port city of Busan on Friday and Saturday.

As head of the APEC anti-terrorism task force, the Philippines will reiterate the need to respond swiftly to terrorism through intelligence-sharing and counterterrorism drills among member countries, Arroyo said.

''No place is safe from the reach of terrorist extremistsm and I am doing everything in my power to protect our nation at home and abroad,'' she said.

Arroyo also said she will share with other leaders the country's plan to head off a potential bird flu pandemic. Bird flu has killed millions of chickens and other fowl as well as more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since late 2003.

She said she will also discuss with her fellow APEC leaders a Philippine proposal to the United Nations for a large-scale conversion of debt to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals of halving global poverty and hunger, providing universal primary education and stemming the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015.

APEC, set up in 1989, groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.