Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday urged governments of the world to support a coalition that will not only eradicate terrorism but also lift the global economy that is facing recession, reports from the presidential palace said yesterday.

In her keynote address at the three-day 10th East Asia Economic Summit, which opened yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention Centre, the President said that while September 11 attacks in the United States brought new levels of uncertainty, "it has also taken countries closer together and injected urgency to the collective effort to combat terrorism."

"After September 11, we realise just how closely global political and economic security have become intertwined and how we must address both political and economic security," the President said.

According to the President, this renewed sense of global community could be the key to early recovery. The economic summit, which is organised by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), is being attended by business leaders, top government officials, members of the academe and ranking media personalities, from Asia, the United States and Europe.

The President said that the events of September 11, coming as they were in the face of a slowdown, have pushed the global economy to the brink of a full-blown recession.

"If the world does go over the edge, this could result to further loss of lives over and above the result of terrorist bombs or the reaction to terrorism, aggravated by the inability of governments to provide for their people if the global economy contracts," the President said.

Arroyo cited the World Bank estimates that as much as 100,000 human lives will be lost as a result of starvation and diseases should there be a full-blown recession.

She said that the coalition which has been built and the relationships which have been fortified in the world's collective response in terrorism "can and must extend to global, regional and bilateral economic relations."

"We face a rocky road ahead. That is certain. But the global economy can, and will, pull through if we approach our economic uncertainties with the cooperative and integrated approach that we have applied to anti-terrorism," the President said.

The Philippines, the President said, stands ready to work with its friends and neighbours to meet this challenge. Arroyo also explained that the Philippine decision to join the U.S. fight against global terrorism was not an emotional one but a "strategic move."

She said that the fight against terrorism is a global fight, it touches all nations and "indeed we in the Philippines have first-hand experience," referring to the continuing menace that the extremist group Abu Sayyaf have wrought on the residents of the southern main island of Mindanao.

Arroyo's bilateral meeting with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region capped her official visit which started on Sunday.

During their talks, Arroyo and Tung discussed bilateral issues, including those that would further promote the welfare of some 180,000 overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong.

Arroyo flew to Beijing yesterday for a three-day state visit on the invitation of President Jiang Zemin.