Australian PM lauds Aquino for introducing reforms

HONOLULU – Australian Prime Minister Julia Eileen Gillard commended President Aquino on Saturday for introducing reforms in the Philippines by promoting open governance, fighting corruption and engaging in ethical business practices.

The two leaders exchanged pleasantries and expressed appreciation for each other’s help such as Australia’s assistance in mapping out flood-prone areas in Metro Manila, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario said.

“The Australian government is helping us unmask the level of elevation of Metro Manila so that we will know which sections of Metro Manila are somehow threatened by extreme flooding, and what we can do to improve infrastructure,” Del Rosario told reporters.

The undersecretary for international affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs also disclosed in a briefing at Ala Moana Hotel here that the foreign head of state “congratulated and applauded” Aquino for his “open governance policy.”

In turn, “the President talked about the acceleration of construction of certain infrastructure, related to health and education,” which led to more discussions, including how to enhance each other’s diplomatic relations.

“It was a very congratulatory meeting the way I saw it. Both sides are trying to lend support to each other’s initiative because the Prime Minister was also relatively new,” she said.

But in an interview, Aquino refused to give more details of the bilateral meeting, saying he does not want to delve on praises that come his way.

He hinted that a visit to Sydney might be underway in mid-2012.

“We are already working on it,” he told Manila-based reporters at Hilton Hotel.

Aquino also thanked Gillard for extending assistance to victims of the country’s last two typhoons, “Pedring” and “Quiel,” noting that talks about “disaster resiliency and disaster risk preparedness” are timely at this stage.

“In APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), we are also worried about what has been happening in the region – in Thailand, and Japan, and the production, and global supply chain. We are affected,” Gillard said.

“In Japan, the production of their cars were delayed by three weeks, because the auto parts had to be shipped from places which were affected by the earthquake,” Del Rosario said.

“It’s also the same way in Thailand where more than half of production capability in electronics and cars was also affected. So we’re talking about how do we plan business and how do we recover business?”