BEIJING – Cooperation agreements on agriculture and infrastructure were among the 14 accords inked on Wednesday by the government with Beijing during the State Visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in China.
Among those signed were the joint action plan for 2023-2025 on agricultural and fisheries cooperation between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Office of the Press Secretary announced.
Other agriculture-related deals which were signed are the handover certificate of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology-Technological Cooperation Phase III (PHILSCAT-TCP III) and protocol of phytosanitary requirements for the export of fresh durians from the Philippines to China.
Also included among those finalized are the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The BRI is a global infrastructure development strategy of China to invest in nearly 150 countries and international organizations spanning from Asia, Europe, and Africa.
The certificate of two China-aid bridge projects in Manila, the Binondo-Intramuros bridge and the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge were also completed along with the framework agreement for the Renminbi-portion of the loan financing for three priority projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The other four loan agreements that were sealed are for the mixed-credit financing (US Dollar and Renminbi) of three priority bridge projects, also under DPWH.
The MOUs between the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and the Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on digital and information and communications technology (ICT) cooperation and tourism between the Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China were also completed.
The remaning MOUs are between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Ministry of Commerce of China on electronic commerce cooperation; and between the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and China’s International Development Cooperation Agency on the Development Cooperation Plan 2023-2025; and an agreement on economic and technical cooperation between China and the Philippines.
Completing the list of signed pacts are on mutual recognition agreement between the General Administration of Customs of China and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) of the Philippines on authorized economic operator program, and an arrangement for the establishment of a communication mechanism on maritime issues between the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Image credits: Yao Dawei/Xinhua via AP
