Visit China Premier Will Boost Trade Between Philippines & China ff

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is arriving in Manila to start his two-day official visit to promote bilateral trade and look for more investment opportunities for Chinese businesses in the Philippines.

Wen will meet Philippine President Arroyo in Malacañang for an expanded bilateral meeting and to witness the signing of agreements.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said 12 agreements will be signed between the Philippines and China during Wen’s official visit, but these would not include the planned bilateral free trade agreement.

”China should also look at the Philippines as a destination for even greater Chinese foreign investments, particularly in the areas of mining, infrastructure, development, agriculture, and fisheries, as well as housing. We would like to see more investments from China in the Philippines and are hopeful that they are coming,” Bunye said.

Bunye said the first step towards increasing bilateral trade and investments between the two countries is the signing of the planned bilateral free trade agreement which, the DFA said, is still under negotiations.

The Philippines and China are expecting bilateral trade volume to double from $ 17.56 billion in 2005 to at least $ 30 billion by 2010.

”President Arroyo believes that both the Philippines and China should deepen existing cooperation between the two countries. Most importantly, we should finish the negotiations and implement the RP-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership Framework to continue opening up economic opportunities between our two nations,” Bunye said.

Negotiations for the planned free trade agreement were facilitated by an economic partnership forum held last June when Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai visited the Philippines.

”These agreements are expected to further reinforce existing trade and investment ties between Manila and Beijing and herald what China has described as the golden age of bilateral relations between our countries,” said Yap, who worked out most of these MoAs during his agricultural trade and investment mission to China last November.

Under the MOA with the Jiangnan Wholesale Market, the DA was able to secure 5,000 square meters of space for Philippine tropical fruits like papaya, bananas, pineapples and mangoes in the largest fruit and vegetable area in China, where 80 percent of its fresh fruits are traded with annual turnovers worth over $ 1 billion, Yap said.

Yap noted that under the agreement, Filipino exporters would be charged on a commission basis as fee for trading in the Jiangnan Wholesale Market, where their products are assured greater access to the Chinese mainland at lower costs.

Yap said Wen and Mrs. Arroyo will also witness the signing of a revised agreement on agriculture and fisheries between China and the Philippines that would lead to stronger cooperation between the two countries in these areas.

The agreements include:

MoA between the Philippine China Fisheries Consortium Inc and the Xunshan Fishery Co. Ltd. on the breeding and culture of grouper and other high-value species; MoA with the China CAMCE Engineering Co. Ltd. for the construction of a shipyard, establishment of a cold storage facility, and the rehabilitation of the Navotas Fish Port Complex; MoA between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and CAMCE on the Candaba Water Resource Project, which aims to develop the swamp area as an as an alternative source of irrigation and potable water;

MoA between Sun Warm Tuna Fishing Corp.and the Guangdong Guangyuan Fishery Group Co. Ltd. on the breeding and culture of abalone, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and scallops, and, MoA on cooperation between the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Guangdong Ocean and Fishery Administration.

These deals, Yap said, will bring in P43.4 billion worth of investments into the country, placing the estimated total worth of the agreements with China to P240.1 billion.

Yap said that in providing the much-needed capital for rural infrastructure and introducing new technologies for the benefit of small Filipino farmers and fisherfolk, these investment deals advance the goal of President Arroyo to attack poverty and expand nationwide access to affordable agricultural products by creating jobs in the countryside and ensuring better management of the supply chain from the producers to their consumers.