Philippines expects trade with China to grow
Alito L Malinao | Saturday, 16 April 2011
Alito L Malinao
After the four-day visit to China of a high-level Philippine economic delegation that started Tuesday, trade between the Philippines and China as well as the flow of direct Chinese investments into the country are expected to grow. Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson, a member of the delegation, said that during the visit, the Philippines sought Chinese investments in major infrastructure projects, such as airports, roads, ports and railways, worth 12 billion U.S. dollars. Singson said that of the 25 projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration, ten will be offered to foreign investors this year. During a gathering in Beijing, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo also assured Chinese businessmen that the Philippine government would provide qualified Chinese investors with tax exemptions and other incentives. According to Domingo, China invested nearly 100 million U.S. dollars in the Philippines last year but he added that this is only a small fraction of China's 59 billion U.S. dollars in overseas direct investment. "There is a lot of potential for Chinese investors in the Philippines," he said. In April 2007, Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Co., Ltd., or ZTE Corp signed a 329 million U.S. dollars contract with the government of former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo for the construction of a National Broadband Network (NBN). Arroyo, however, scrapped the ZTE-NBN contract in October 2007 after alleged irregularities in the deal, involving some of her officials, were exposed in the Philippine Senate. The deal has never been revived. But the ZTE-NBN scandal has not dented the strong ties between China and the Philippines and their trade relations continued to flourish. Earlier, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that Philippine exports have fully recovered in 2010 from the 2009 slump triggered by the world's worst financial crisis. Export growth last year was the highest recorded in 11 years. According to the DTI, China was among the top destinations of the country's exports last year. Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that Philippine exports from January to December 2010 reached 51. 39 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 33.69 per cent from the previous year. Combined markets of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region accounted for about 19.52 per cent of the Philippines' total exports. This was followed by Japan, 15.17 per cent; and the United States, 14.70 per cent. Based on data from the DTI's Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, 60 per cent of Philippine merchandise exports went to North and Southeast Asia over the past five years. Of these, 23 per cent went to China and 20 per cent to Japan and South Korea. - Xinhua
After the four-day visit to China of a high-level Philippine economic delegation that started Tuesday, trade between the Philippines and China as well as the flow of direct Chinese investments into the country are expected to grow. Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson, a member of the delegation, said that during the visit, the Philippines sought Chinese investments in major infrastructure projects, such as airports, roads, ports and railways, worth 12 billion U.S. dollars. Singson said that of the 25 projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration, ten will be offered to foreign investors this year. During a gathering in Beijing, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo also assured Chinese businessmen that the Philippine government would provide qualified Chinese investors with tax exemptions and other incentives. According to Domingo, China invested nearly 100 million U.S. dollars in the Philippines last year but he added that this is only a small fraction of China's 59 billion U.S. dollars in overseas direct investment. "There is a lot of potential for Chinese investors in the Philippines," he said. In April 2007, Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Co., Ltd., or ZTE Corp signed a 329 million U.S. dollars contract with the government of former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo for the construction of a National Broadband Network (NBN). Arroyo, however, scrapped the ZTE-NBN contract in October 2007 after alleged irregularities in the deal, involving some of her officials, were exposed in the Philippine Senate. The deal has never been revived. But the ZTE-NBN scandal has not dented the strong ties between China and the Philippines and their trade relations continued to flourish. Earlier, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that Philippine exports have fully recovered in 2010 from the 2009 slump triggered by the world's worst financial crisis. Export growth last year was the highest recorded in 11 years. According to the DTI, China was among the top destinations of the country's exports last year. Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that Philippine exports from January to December 2010 reached 51. 39 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 33.69 per cent from the previous year. Combined markets of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region accounted for about 19.52 per cent of the Philippines' total exports. This was followed by Japan, 15.17 per cent; and the United States, 14.70 per cent. Based on data from the DTI's Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, 60 per cent of Philippine merchandise exports went to North and Southeast Asia over the past five years. Of these, 23 per cent went to China and 20 per cent to Japan and South Korea. - Xinhua