weanesaar, April 2.

4, 2"ot9
!!

'Bottlenecks nese
tradq investment prorects'
By JovEE NARrf, N. DELACRUZ' @joveemarie "When we were preparing for
& BERNADETTE D. NIcoLA$ @BNicoL'sBM "O.arlt the e(olonl( this Boao Forum, the Filipinobusi-
' and ftade oopentlon nessmenwere excited to meet Chi-
betwecn ourtwo theywanted
HE Speaker of the House of (ourtricJ ii as good
nese businessmen and
to meetbusinessmen in high tech-
Representatives on Tuesday . -betterth.nithar
aJ it hal avcr baa[,
nology," she said.
"Andwe took the cue from that
said the Philippines has to exert .Y.r boon, in fad.
and we asked the Association of
The main thing to
"mhximum effort" to address on-the- to(ur0nnovrl9ontheimpl€me ation side, Filipino-China Understanding to
g,iround bottle4ecks that prevent the t IheI'r llpplnej har to ex€rt marimum.ffofi to help invite specifically business-
r.mov€ on-the-ground bottlm.di that imp.de men in hightechnology. And 16 of
implenientation of projects, and hamstrgng inpl€m€ntation ot proi€dJ that involve uid€
irv€*ment gpupi from ftina,"-Afioyo
them came to Manila in response
and to the invitation," addedArroyo,
trade arid investment flows from China.' who is a member of the board
countries is as good as it has ever of BFA.
been, better than it has ever been, The Speaker said all the busi-
This, as a Palace official ex- viewed as mere consequences of in fact. The main thing to focus ness plans presentedbythe Chiriese
pressed the hope that the inpu ts jn the countries' collective progress, . qn now is on the implementation businessmen did not have any re-
the maiden Boao Forum in Manila he added. side. The Philippines has to exert strictions on foreign investments,
will put primary consideration In her speech before Filipino maximum effortto remove on-the- a crucial point that'would have to
on inclusive growth. Executive and Chinese businessmen during ground bottlenecks that imp€de be considered alongside current
Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), implementation of proiects that in- Philippine policies.
said in a keynote speech during meanwhile, Speaker Gloria Ma- volve trade and investment groups Under Arroyo's leadership, the
the opening rceremony of Boio capagal-Arroyo said business- from China," Arroyo said, House passed a measure amend-
Forum for Asia Manila Confer- men from China were concerned AccordingtoArroyo, companies ing the Foreignlnvestments Act of
ence on Monday night, "Let me aboutthe country's restrictions on from China wanted to know more 1991tomake the Philippines more
emphasize, that multilateral co- foreign investments. about the regulatorypolicies in the accessible to foreign investors. The
operation and econom ic develop - "Vice Chairman Zhou [Xiaoch- Philippines. bill is now pending at the Senate.
ment should always be inclusive. uan] mentioned about the restric- She saidthe two-dayBoao Forum "They all came with their busi-
' Itmust always benefit the greater tions onforeigninvestments in the in Manila will seek to enlighten ness plans andwe in the Philippines
majority, especially the poor and Philippines," Arroyo said. businessmen from China on the want to match the enthusiasm in
the marginalized." "Clearly, the economic and Philippinest restrictions onforeign the implementation side. $,r
Profit and income should be trade cooperation between our two investment. SEE "BoTTLaNBcKs," A2 ,,... ,AAr- Al,2'
Nbxr PA?-€-W.** ->
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Bottlenecks...
coNTINuED FRoMAl2
They were concerned with the
regulatory side so I PlacedaPhone
call to our SecretarY of Informa-
tion and TechnologY Sec. Eliseo
Rio, who was here during the oPen-
ing," she said.
"There were three who had sPe-
cific questions and they presented
their business plans to our DICT
Sec. Rio intently and enthusiasti-
cally, and at the end of each ques-
tion, we realized that all their
business plans did nothave anYre-
strictions on foreign investments,"
Arroyo added.
Arroyo also assured Chinese
businessmen that the Philippines's
business climate "is vern verywel-
coming 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 balancg investments
EARLIER, Trade SectetarYRamonM.
Lopez said thePhilippines is seeking
to maximize its good relations with
China by pushing for trade balance
and more investments.
Philippine exports to Chinagrew
by 8.5 percent to $8.7 billion in
201.8, from $8.02 billion in 2017,
making China the PhiliPPines's
fourth-largest export market,
With around $962.61 million
in approved investmentis in 2018.
China is the countrY's {oP source
of foreign investmentP, accord
ing to the Board of Investments
(BOI). Chinaleapt to the toP from
being 14th in 2016 ($31 99 mil-
lion) and ninth in 2017 ($46 3
million).
As of the previous fiscal Year,
China remains the ,PhiliPPines's
' V. Ramos.
top trading partner, with trade
with China growing by more than
18 percent from just $25 billion in
2017 fio rnore than $30 billion in
2018i
o p,sq€ - Ata "
("2)
In terms of of f icial develoPment
assistance, Chinahas also granted
the Philippines with $62 million
in 2018.
Chinese tourist arrivals also in-
creased bY 30 Percent to 1.26 mil-
lion in 2018 compared to around
900,000 visitors in 2017.
Boao's vision
IN his keynote speech MondaY
night, Medialdea saidthe Boao Fo-
rum has become "instrumen!al in
charting the course of PhiliPPine
economy in the era of. glabaliza'
tion and regional integration,"
and that it is just fitting that the
event was held in Manila as the
Boao forum traces its roots from
the leadership of its founders,
including forner President Fidel
.We are optimistic that this
conference will not only serve as
a platform to introduce the Boao
Forum to the PhiliPPine business
communitv. butalso to provide ou r
neighbors adequate insight on the
business environment and trade
policies currently prevailing in the
Philippines," he said.
"The decision to hold this con-
ference here in Manila is indeed
a welcome development as it also
reflects the international com-
munity's growing support for and
confidence in PhiliPPines-China
relations and East Asian regional
cooperation," he added.
When Duterte assumed office
in 2016, the Philippines sought
warmer relations with China de-
spite the maritime dispute in the
West Philippine Sea, which Manila
raised in 2013 before a United Na-
tions arbitral tribunal, where it got
a favora$le ruling.
Although the Hague-based Per-
manent Court of Arbitration is-
srred a landmark decision in 2016
invalidating China's "excessive"
claims to the West PhiliPPine Sea'
China has opted not to recognize
the arbitral ruling.