Binay leaves for India to attend Asean commemorative summit

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay left for India yesterday to represent President Aquino in the ASEAN-India commemorative summit.

Binay, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, boarded Philippine Airlines flight PR 0752 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2.

He will also keynote the ASEAN-India Business Fair and Forum.

“This summit will gather government and business leaders from India and the Southeast Asian countries. I am optimistic this will be instrumental in realizing our shared vision of attaining lasting peace and equitable progress,” Binay said.

The summit coincides with the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership and the 10th anniversary of ASEAN-India Summit-level partnership.

Binay said it is expected to result in the adoption of the ASEAN-India Vision Statement 2020, which would chart the future direction of ASEAN-India relations.

He will meet with the leaders of the National Association of Software and Services Companies, a trade organization that represents the Indian software industry, and hold a dialogue with the Filipino community in New Delhi.

The Vice President will also meet with business executives of Indian companies, including ESSAR Group/AEGIS, HCL Technologies Ltd., Syntel Inc., Infosys BPO Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services, and Interglobe Technologies.

Philippines’ total trade with India reached US$ 1.06 billion last year.

Most of the Indian investments involved administrative and support service activities, mining and quarrying, and information and communication.

Top business process outsourcing or Information Technology (IT) companies in India have operations in the Philippines.

The ASEAN-India Foreign Trade Agreement increased prospects of greater trade and investments.