Foresight of PRRD, Xi credited for improving Manila-Beijing ties

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has given credit to the foresight of both President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping for the warm and productive bilateral ties as well as the improving prospects for mutually beneficial business partnerships between the Philippines and China.

Speaking before a visiting delegation of Chinese businessmen, Dominguez said the Philippines offers them with a “rich field” of investment opportunities under a leadership that is committed to creating an environment more conducive to sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Dominguez said that under the leadership of President Duterte, the Philippine government has

adopted a more forward-looking policy towards China that recognizes “the great synergy that will be generated by the closer partnership between these two countries.” “We look forward to more partnerships at ground level, at the level of individual enterprises, and shared wealth creation. The opportunities that unite us are far greater than the issues where we might have some differences,” Dominguez said during the Philippines-China Trade and Investment Forum held Monday at the Conrad Manila Hotel in Pasay City. In 2018, China was the Philippines’ biggest trading partner with a total trade of US$ 52 billion, which is 15 percent higher than the 2017 level. Foreign direct investments (FDIs) from China to the Philippines reached US$634 million in 2018, a dramatic 185 percent increase from the previous year. “We look forward to even closer cooperation as we build the best possible future for our two peoples,” Dominguez said. “Much credit will have to be given to the foresight of both President Xi Jinping and President Rodrigo Duterte.’ The forum was attended by around 100 business leaders from the industrial city of Chongqing located in southwest China. Also at the forum were Chen Min’er, Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC); Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua; Guo Yezhou, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee; Wu Cunrong, Executive Vice Mayor of the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government; and Wang Fu, Secretary General of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee. Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, and Representatives Wes Gatchalian and Lord Allan Jay Velasco were also at the forum. Dominguez said the visit of this large delegation of Chongqing senior officials and businessmen underscores the growing peopleto-people relations and improving prospecting for “mutually rewarding business partnerships” between the Philippines and China. During the event, Dominguez also congratulated the People’s Republic of China on its 70th founding anniversary and expressed his admiration for its past and present leadership for accomplishing its goal of virtually eliminating poverty among its people. “No other country, at the size and scale of China, has ever achieved this in human history,” Dominguez said. Under President Xi’s leadership, China has moved ahead with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Dominguez described as the “single largest enterprise in human history” that will “reshape the global economy for the new century” and bring Asian economies closer together through enhanced trade linkages and seamless connections for investments. Dominguez said the Philippines fully supports BRI, aware of its vast economic potentials for all countries in the region and outside it. “Enhanced trade will encourage more efficient investment flows. Improved connectivity will enhance the inclusiveness of our growth patterns. We have everything to gain from this,” he said.