Noy won't commit to state visits, says he needs to fix country first

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino said he could not commit to any of the invitations for a state visit in various countries because of the many problems he would have to fix first on the local front.

He said on Sunday night upon his arrival from Vietnam that aside from Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar and New Zealand, Laos and Cambodia also invited him for a state visit during their talks on the side 17th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and related summits in Hanoi last week.

Mr. Aquino said all he could reply to all the invitations was “at the appropriate time.”

The President said he brought up with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein the need to democratize and ensure peaceful and transparent elections on Nov. 7.

“Their premiere said they would be open to observers from embassies, the UN (United Nations) agencies, and they can monitor everywhere. There are 3,000 candidates vying for 1,000 positions. He said access to media would be certain,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said he and other leaders reiterated their call for Myanmar to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi because its stability would be important for the region.

The President said a neighboring country was now host to three million people displaced from Myanmar but the Burmese leader was saying there is not much trouble in their country now.

“They have a lot of insurgencies then and it’s zero now. He answered all queries in fairness and I told him it would be best if we would see Aung San Suu Kyi’s release,” Mr. Aquino said.

The President said he would consider going to Myanmar if they would show a strong determination to go on the road to democracy. “Definitely, that will help them stabilize and solidify that onward movement to full democracy. But I can picture the many problems left here and they understand. I said I had been in office for only four months and they might want to allow me to focus my attention first on the problems here,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said he would have wanted the Vietnam trip to be his last this year but the Philippines would have to join the international community at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit middle of this month in Japan.

He said he was bent on using his trips as an opportunity to encourage investors to come to the country.

The President said there was much interest in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) that the Philippines was offering to foreign investors.

“There is interest. That is the best I can say at this point in time. We gave them the books, detailed first 10 and other potential projects. But once you hand it down and they will say they are interested at once, that’s too much to expect. The mere fact that they accepted the books and really were going through it and saying that they are interested (is good enough). There are other countries that are trying to do PPPs. So we will know in a few days’ time when we launch it. But I think it is safe to say at this point in time that there will be significant interest. And when we go to Japan for the APEC, it will be harder because there are more parties involved,” Aquino said.

He added that the side trip in Japan is also aimed at getting more investors.

“I am told that it might even be better than what we produced in America and significantly better,” he said.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said that aside from the agreements signed and the P21.4 billion official development assistance from Japan, the trip was a success because the President was able to get better acquainted with the leaders of other countries.

“He has developed, I think, emerging friendships with some of the leaders there. He and the Thailand prime minister talk often. He was also able to talk lengthily with the prime ministers of New Zealand and Australia, among others. That will help in our relations with other countries,” Carandang said.

He said the Brunei Investment Agency is expected to come to the Philippines in November to attend the PPP conference and that other countries were expected to participate as well.