By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & Bernadette D. Nicolas
THE Speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday said the Philippines has to exert “maximum effort” to address on-the-ground bottlenecks that prevent the implementation of projects, and hamstrung trade and investment flows from China.
This, as a Palace official expressed the hope that the inputs in the maiden Boao Forum in Manila will put primary consideration on inclusive growth. Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea said in a keynote speech during the opening ceremony of Boao Forum for Asia Manila Conference on Monday night, “Let me emphasize, that multilateral cooperation and economic development should always be inclusive. It must always benefit the greater majority, especially the poor and the marginalized.”
Profit and income should be viewed as mere consequences of the countries’ collective progress, he added.
In her speech before Filipino and Chinese businessmen during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), meanwhile, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said businessmen from China were concerned about the country’s restrictions on foreign investments.
“Vice Chairman Zhou [Xiaochuan] mentioned about the restrictions on foreign investments in the Philippines,” Arroyo said.
“Clearly, the economic and trade cooperation between our two countries is as good as it has ever been, better than it has ever been, in fact. The main thing to focus on now is on the implementation side. The Philippines has to exert maximum effort to remove on-the-ground bottlenecks that impede implementation of projects that involve trade and investment groups from China,” Arroyo said.
According to Arroyo, companies from China wanted to know more about the regulatory policies in the Philippines.
She said the two-day Boao Forum in Manila will seek to enlighten businessmen from China on the Philippines’s restrictions on foreign investment.
“When we were preparing for this Boao Forum, the Filipino businessmen were excited to meet Chinese businessmen and they wanted to meet businessmen in high technology,” she said.
“And we took the cue from that and we asked the Association of Filipino-China Understanding to help invite specifically businessmen in high technology. And 16 of them came to Manila in response to the invitation,” added Arroyo, who is a member of the board of BFA.
The Speaker said all the business plans presented by the Chinese businessmen did not have any restrictions on foreign investments, a crucial point that would have to be considered alongside current Philippine policies.
Under Arroyo’s leadership, the House passed a measure amending the Foreign Investments Act of 1991 to make the Philippines more accessible to foreign investors. The bill is now pending at the Senate.
“They all came with their business plans and we in the Philippines want to match the enthusiasm in the implementation side.
They were concerned with the regulatory side so I placed a phone call to our Secretary of Information and Technology Sec. Eliseo Rio, who was here during the opening,” she said.
“There were three who had specific questions and they presented their business plans to our DICT Sec. Rio intently and enthusiastically, and at the end of each question, we realized that all their business plans did not have any restrictions on foreign investments,” Arroyo added.
Arroyo also assured Chinese businessmen that the Philippines’s business climate “is very, very welcoming for your business plans.” “We in the Philippines want to match your enthusiasm and this is what this forum is all about,” she said.
Trade balance, investments
EARLIER, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the Philippines is seeking to maximize its good relations with China by pushing for trade balance and more investments.
Philippine exports to China grew by 8.5 percent to $8.7 billion in 2018, from $8.02 billion in 2017, making China the Philippines’s fourth-largest export market.
With around $962.61 million in approved investments in 2018, China is the country’s top source of foreign investments, according to the Board of Investments (BOI). China leapt to the top from being 14th in 2016 ($31.99 million) and ninth in 2017 ($46.3 million).
As of the previous fiscal year, China remains the Philippines’s top trading partner, with trade with China growing by more than 18 percent from just $25 billion in 2017 to more than $30 billion in 2018.
In terms of official development assistance, China has also granted the Philippines with $62 million in 2018.
Chinese tourist arrivals also increased by 30 percent to 1.26 million in 2018 compared to around 900,000 visitors in 2017.
Boao’s vision
IN his keynote speech Monday night, Medialdea said the Boao Forum has become “instrumental in charting the course of Philippine economy in the era of glabalization and regional integration,” and that it is just fitting that the event was held in Manila as the Boao forum traces its roots from the leadership of its founders, including former President Fidel V. Ramos.
“We are optimistic that this conference will not only serve as a platform to introduce the Boao Forum to the Philippine business community, but also to provide our neighbors adequate insight on the business environment and trade policies currently prevailing in the Philippines,” he said.
“The decision to hold this conference here in Manila is indeed a welcome development as it also reflects the international community’s growing support for and confidence in Philippines-China relations and East Asian regional cooperation,” he added.
When Duterte assumed office in 2016, the Philippines sought warmer relations with China despite the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, which Manila raised in 2013 before a United Nations arbitral tribunal, where it got a favorable ruling.
Although the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a landmark decision in 2016 invalidating China’s “excessive” claims to the West Philippine Sea, China has opted not to recognize the arbitral ruling.