Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Tuesday the bilateral ties between the Philippines and China had reached new heights in recent years, and this was evident in the rise in China’s investments in the Philippines and in China’s becoming the Philippines’ number one partner in trade and industry.
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She made the comment in her keynote speech on the second day of the Boao Forum for Asia Manila Conference at the Shangri-La at the Fort in Taguig City.
“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,” Arroyo said.
Under the initiative of Arroyo, who is a member of the BFA Board, the Philippines hosted the 2019 BOAO Forum for the Asia Manila Conference, with the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. as its BFA’s main partner, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as supporting partner.
The BOAO theme for this conference is “Concerted Action for Common Development in the New Era.”
Arroyo said that, during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping last November, he and President Rodrigo Duterte decided to establish the relationship of “Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation” and sent a strong message that the two countries were partners in seeking common development.
She said the Philippines must remove on-the-ground bottlenecks that impede the implementation of projects that involve trade and investment groups from China.
“We hope that is the way your business plans will also end up. Welcome without restriction. We in the Philippines want to match your enthusiasm and this is what this Forum is all about,” said Arroyo, a member of the board of the BOAO Forum for Asia.
“We want you to know the Philippine business climate and as that lunch meeting clearly demonstrated, our business climate is very very welcoming for your business plans and I hope that will be the conclusion in this Boao Forum in Manila.”
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