China’s economic growth model is worth a second look given its development success in the past 40 years, according to House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Using its own model, Arroyo said China has been able to lift 400 million from poverty and is already on its way to becoming the world’s largest economy. Its economic growth, she said, has also been “unmatched” in the past four decades.
She cited China’s leadership in promoting what many refer to as “Globalization V.2” or the Belt and Road Initiative in a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) convention in Hainan, China.
“China has given us the lesson that there is just not one path for development because prior to China’s experience, it was thought that the only way to development is the Western style model of Jeffersonian democracy and coupled with a free market,” Arroyo said in a statement.
“But China has shown the world that you can have your own model of development using your own historical experience, especially China in the last 40 years,” she added.
The Speaker also expressed admiration for the current Chinese leadership’s implementation of Deng Xiaoping’s socialism with Chinese characteristics.
She described the discussion as “valuable” as it mainly covered the direction China is taking on its 40th year of reforms and its relationship with the rest of the world.
The meeting was one of the highlights of the BFA Annual Conference 2019. Arroyo is on her second year as member of the Board of the BFA, which gathers together leaders in government, business and academic institutions throughout Asia to share their thoughts on the most pressing issues in the region and the world.
The forum brought together leaders in government, business and academia to discuss the Asia’s future. Participants agreed that globalization and free trade are irreversible, conforming to the common interests of Asia and the whole world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech was the keynote of the annual conference, inspiring people around the world to work together to a community with a shared future for humanity and make Asia and the whole world peaceful and prosperous.
More than 2,000 participants and 260 speakers exchanged views on the Globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative, Opening-up, Innovation, as well as Structural Reform in 65 panel discussions and put forward valuable proposals during the year’s conference.
‘Complex ODA’
The Department of Finance (DOF) again stressed that the Philippines will not fall into a “debt trap” of any other country as the government expands its infrastructure investments through concessional loan financing from its development partners.
In his speech during the Rotary International District 3800 District Conference on Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has reiterated that in conformity with the Philippine Constitution, the pipeline projects funded with official development assistance (ODA) from Japan or China do not allow for the appropriation or takeover of domestic assets in the event of a failure to pay.
“We have been warned about the so-called debt trap owing to the massive infrastructure spending and loans from China under this administration. Let me assure you that the Philippines will not fall into a debt trap to any country as we expand our infrastructure spending with ODAs,” Dominguez said.
The finance chief explained that no infrastructure project is funded through ODA without first going through a rigorous system of reviews and approvals by the Cabinet and the President.
“We ask the few who understand complex ODA terms to help us battle malicious efforts to confuse and misinform the public,” he added.
Dominguez said the government’s debt is “carefully structured” to ensure that it does not borrow without raising its own capital for infrastructure projects, while at the same time sourcing a significant portion of financing from the local debt market to minimize exposure to adverse external factors.
Cai U. Ordinario and Rea Cu