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SEATTLE, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Philippines President Fidel
Ramos will meet with Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates on
Friday and sign agreements paving the way for development of the
country's information infrastructure, the company said.
Ramos will meet with Gates for about 30 minutes at the
Redmond, Wash., headquarters of the computer software giant and
then sign a series of four memoranda of understanding regarding
future business, company spokesman Mark Thomas said.
Under the agreements, Microsoft will help the Philippines
develop a long-term information technology plan and create
national Internet sites for education and government services.
The Philippines will pledge to protect Microsoft's
intellectual property rights through laws and their enforcement,
Thomas said.
He said the Philippines is a small but strategically
important market for Microsoft.
In May, Ramos, who has been promoting the country's national
information technology plan, visited California and presided
over the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft
archrival Oracle Corp.
Ramos will also speak at a conference on technology in
Seattle on Friday during the stopover on his way to the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vancouver.
On Thursday, Ramos spoke in San Francisco, at an Asia
Pacific Information Technology Summit, where he announced an
agreement with Oracle Corp. The Philippines will become the
first recipient of Oracle's plan to provide network computers to
schools, as part of its $50 million Oracle Academic Initiative.
Ramos and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison held a news
conference to announce the pact, which will provide network
computers developed by Acer and others, software, support
services, and resources to expand technology education.
"The rapid development of new digital technologies are
causing profound changes in human life," Ramos told the
conference in San Francisco. "We are determined to ride the
crest of this revolution."
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