The Philippines signed $24 billion worth of agreements as President Rodrigo Duterte concluded his three-day state visit to China.
“Proposed investments went up to $15 billion and $9 billion worth of credit facilities opened. New joint projects that are of private… nature are added,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a report.
He noted the Philippines delegation attended several official meetings with Chinese leaders and participated in investment forums.
“In meeting the top leaders and business community in China, what I see is a positive move towards re-strengthening ties with Asian neighbors which historically have been our economic and trading partners for centuries. The highly successful meetings with top leaders of China have led to greater confidence in the future economic relationship of our two countries,” he said.
He said the President had established good rapport with Asian leaders in Laos, Indonesia, Brunei and China and that the chief executive would visit other Asian countries as well.
Lopez said the Philippines had regained friendships and opened deeper commitments to enhance economic, trade and investment ties, and reaffirmed the vision of regional economic integration.
The Philippines announced $13.5 billion worth of investments and agreements with China, which could translate into about 2 million jobs.
The investments will be in manufacturing, agribusiness, trade finance, hotels, telecommunications, tourism, transportation, economic zones, industrial parks and infrastructure.
Chinese investments to the Philippines stood at $32 million in 2015 compared with $130 billion in total global investments.
Latest data show that China is the Philippines’ second major trading partner with $17 billion in total trade.
Philippine exports to China reach $6 billion in 2015.
The trade ministries of both countries are set to meet on January 2017 to work on the details of the program. China suspended bilateral meetings with the Philippines five years ago.
China also announced that President Xi Jinping ordered the lifting of suspension on 20 banana and six mango exporters to China.
“The President’s visit was seen as a symbol of renewing old friendship and breaking the sea of barrier. It is moving to a sea of peace and friendship. Because of this, we see more opportunities for the Philippines,” Lopez said.
The Philippines and China also signed agreements on financing development projects and funding the Philippines’ “war on drugs.”
The agreements will allow the Duterte administration to tap Beijing’s financing facilities and technical expertise to help fund its infrastructure and rural development projects.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Export-Import Bank of China vice president Sun Ping signed an agreement to provide funding for Philippine projects in infrastructure, agriculture and energy through concessional loans and other preferential financing facilities.
China and the Philippines signed $15 million worth of grant to fund anti-illegal drugs operations.
The agreement would provide Manila with a RMB100 million grant from Beijing to aid the Duterte administration in implementing projects to strengthen its war on illegal drugs and in law enforcement security cooperation between the two countries. With Gabrielle H. Binaday