RP, China agree to expand agri trade, investment ties

Nanning, China – The Philippines and China have agreed to further their trade and investment partnership in the agriculture sector.

In a meeting during the 5th China – Association of Southeast Asian Nations Expo (CAEXPO) being held here, House Speaker Prospero Nograles got the assurance from officials of Guangxi Zhuang province that more investments would come from China in terms of developing agricultural products.

“We will encourage more investors to invest in your country. China still has full confidence on trade and investments in the Philippines,” Guo Sheng Kun, secretary general of Guangxi Zhuang Minority Autonomous Region, told Nograles.

“We can work together to develop agricultural crops because of our similar climate. We earlier had a consensus to develop starch from cassava,” Guo cited as example.

During the 30-minute meeting, Nograles sought greater trade and investment cooperation with China, which he branded as the “economic big brother” of the Philippines and other ASEAN nations.

“I hope China will continue to help us — especially in development of resources in Mindanao,” the lawmaker appealed.

Apart from officials of the Guangxi province, Nograles also met with Vice Premiere of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Wang Qi Shan.

In both meetings, he expressed gratitude to the government of China for their trust on the Philippines by allowing its investors to put in billions of money to the country.

Nograles said he hopes more investments would come from China which he said should also take the lead in bringing the region to economic growth.

The Philippine representative also cited the importance of CAEXPO, which he said is crucial in strengthening trade and economic ties among countries in the region and in helping them overcome repercussions of the looming global crisis.

“Global crisis is imminent. No body else would help China and ASEAN but ourselves. We need to help one another to withstand economic difficulties that lie ahead. We look forward to closer cooperation with China and our ASEAN neighbors especially with the implementation of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2010,” he said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 5th China – ASEAN Business and Investment Summit also being held here.

In the same event, the United Nations lauded the growing trade and investment partnership between China and member — countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said he is happy that efforts to have stronger, more efficient trade cooperation between China and the ASEAN through a proposed free trade area has been gaining grounds.

“The FTA (Free Trade Area) is certainly advancing with the agreement on services completed and agreement on investment underway. This is welcome to us,” the UN official stated at the opening ceremony yesterday of the 5th China – ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, which was simultaneously held with the opening of the 5th China – ASEAN Expo in this southern city in Guangxi province.

Panitchpakdi noted that investments from ASEAN to China have grown to a whopping $47 billion last year, or $14 billion above the 2003 level before the CAEXPO and CABIS started.

Investments from China to ASEAN, on the hand, jumped to $4 billion last year from $1 billion in 2005.

However, the UN representative lamented the need to further strengthen private sectors in the less-developed ASEAN members.

He said insufficient legal and support systems in some countries in the region have been hampering growth of investment not only in specific nations but in ASEAN as a whole.

“Development of private sector is very important to create an able environment for investments. So we appeal to more developed countries in the region to help the less-developed ones in this aspect. It is our responsibility to support smaller members for the benefit of ASEAN as a whole,” Panitchpakdi explained.

The UN official likewise cited the significance of ensuring food quality in the region in the development of trade and business.

Earlier in this annual event, Chinese officials had revealed that their government has already taken necessary measures to assure safety of food produced in the communist state – especially following the recent discovery of contamination of some dairy products from the communist nation.

The 5th CAEXPO reported that ASEAN countries used 1,154 booths this year, which is higher by 30 percent compared to last year. Organizers said this is an indication that investors in China and the ASEAN have recognized the importance of the event.