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Thursday, April 28, 2005
RP, China sign $1.5B worth of deals
MANILA -- Philippines and China signed Wednesday some US$1.5 billion worth of government-to-government and business agreements, including investments in the redevelopment of the Nonoc mining project in Surigao del Norte worth US$950 million.
The signing of the deals were witnessed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is on the second day of his three-day state visit to Manila.
Chinese and Philippine officials signed the agreements that opened the door to two largest Chinese investments in the country after a 45-minute meeting between Hu and Arroyo.
A US$500 million loan will go toward a railway linking Manila and northern provinces, and a US$950 million investment will go into developing a nickel mining project in Mindanao.
After meeting with Arroyo, Hu told the Philippine Congress that development is Asia's top priority, and "the booming Chinese economy has provided the most powerful engine for East Asia and the fastest growing export market for the neighboring countries."
Hu, however, said Asian countries must not ignore the threats posed by terrorism, separatism, religious extremism, poverty, and infectious diseases.
Hu asserted that China was devoted to "peace, stability and prosperity of the region," noting that Beijing had kept its currency stable during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and helped victims of the December tsunami.
He also said China seeks "to settle existing differences through dialog and promote common security through cooperation," and supports the inaugural East Asia Summit in December that will include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, South Korea and Japan.
China is the fastest growing market for Philippine exports and is the Southeast Asian country's fifth biggest trading partner. Bilateral trade has been growing about 55 percent annually since 2002 and the two countries are targeting an annual US$20 billion in trade by 2009.
Hu flew in Tuesday from Indonesia where he attended last weekend's Asia-Africa summit. Upon arriving in Manila, Hu and Madame Liu Yongqing were welcomed in Malacañang with full military honors and a 21-gun salute.
Hu and Arroyo witnessed the signing of a total of 10 government-to-government agreements and four business agreements. Arroyo presented to Hu the first edition stamp of the Philippine Postal Corporation commemorating the 30-year anniversary of Philippine-China relations.
The biggest government-to-government agreement was on the railway project while the major business investment was on the redevelopment of the Nonoc mines.
Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said China is the Philippines's "fastest growing trade partner."
He dismissed questions on the fairness of the railway project contract, saying it is very hard to find terms of three percent to the dollar with 20 years to pay and five years grace period.
He said the same term applies to the first phase (Caloocan to Malolos, worth US$400 million) and the second phase (Malolos to Clark, worth US$500 million).
Narvaez said the Chinese investors would have to conduct a six-month study to validate the findings four years ago on the prospects for the Nonoc redevelopment project.
"They want to update the information and do their own engineering study because they want to know how to apply advanced Chinese technology to the project and see how much equipment can be sourced from China," he said.
Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said joint military exercises between the Philippines and China have not been ruled out.
Cruz said the first annual RP-China dialog will take place in late May. This is to establish dialog mechanisms and to follow on the discussions concerning the exchange of visits of senior, middle and junior military officials in order to explore areas of defense cooperation.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Hu and Arroyo welcomed the inclusion of Vietnam in the joint seismic exploration agreement on the South China Sea as a "very positive" means of solving the dispute among claimant countries. He said other claimant countries should not be deterred from joining the agreement.
Ermita said China gave in to the Philippines's request to open its market to vegetables from the Philippines.
He said the issue on the Korean peninsula was not taken up and that Hu only said they are doing everything in order to find a peaceful resolution to the problem in the Taiwan straits.
He said Hu also welcomed the sending of liaison officers who would help solve the problem of drug trafficking and transnational crimes.
At 7:30 p.m., Arroyo hosted a state banquet at the Ceremonial Hall in honor of Hu and his party. (JMR/With AP)
(April 28, 2005 issue)
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