Australia’s foreign, trade ministers coming to Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Australia’s foreign affairs and trade and investment ministers are visiting Manila this week for high-level meetings with Philippine officials and the business community.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, and state of New South Wales (NSW) Premier Barry O’Farrell will visit Manila between Feb. 19 and 21.

Bishop and Robb will meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, respectively for the 4th Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) in Manila from Feb. 20 to 21.

The ministers will discuss regional and global developments and priorities, areas of mutual interest, and cooperation in international relations and trade.

A private dialogue between representatives of the private sector and the trade ministers will also be held as one of the activities of the PAMM.

Australia is one of the Philippines’ closest bilateral partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The PAMM began as the Philippines-Australia Dialogue in 1997 and was upgraded to a Joint Ministerial Meeting in 2005. It sets the direction and vision of Philippines-Australia bilateral relations and serves as the forum to discuss initiatives and activities to strengthen the partnership.

“The PAMM is the pre-eminent meeting between Australian and Philippine ministers. It provides an excellent opportunity to deepen the bilateral relationship, strengthen our cooperation on regional issues and shape the agenda for the next few years,” Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddell said.

The ministers will also meet other Cabinet members.

Del Rosario and Bishop will also join ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh for the official launch of the ASEAN-Australia 40th Anniversary Commemoration.

Bishop is visiting the Philippines for the second time. She visited Manila, Tacloban and Ormoc in December to see the relief efforts undertaken by the Australian government, in partnership with the Philippines, in responding to the destruction caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

It will be the first visit to the Philippines of Robb as trade and investment minister. He will be accompanied by a senior business delegation to advance bilateral commercial interests and the Australian government’s economic diplomacy agenda.

It will also be O’Farrell’s first official visit to Manila. The premier will be looking to strengthen NSW’s relationship with the Philippines and promote trade and investment opportunities.

Australia remains one of the Philippines’ largest bilateral grant aid partners, with A$170.1 million or approximately P6.8 billion in official development assistance (ODA) expected for the 2013-14 financial year. 

Australian ODA in the Philippines focuses on partnering on education reforms, enhancing the foundations for sustained economic growth, better disaster preparedness and humanitarian response, improved conditions for peace and security, and building stronger institutions for accountable and inclusive governance.

In the last three years alone, Australia invested A$387.4 million or approximately P15.6 billion in the Philippines that has contributed to important development results.

These include more than two million children in disadvantaged areas benefiting from better quality education, road rehabilitation projects benefiting at least 51,000 people, lowering transportation costs on select routes by at least 30 percent, production of hazard maps and disaster risk information, and assisting authorities in 27 provinces to reduce the impact of natural disasters.