Europe trip generates $2.38-B investments

BERLIN – It’s mission accomplished, said President Aquino yesterday of his trip to Europe, where he bagged $2.38 billion worth of investments as well as clear expressions of support for Manila’s position on the West Philippine Sea issue.

Aquino headed to the United States last night, primarily to attend a climate change summit hosted by the United Nations in New York after visiting Madrid, Brussels, Paris and then this city as last stop.

The President said the upcoming investments would create at least 55,500 jobs.

He said these were only initial figures, as he expressed confidence that his mission here to invite businessmen to invest in the Philippines would bear more fruit.

On whether he succeeded in getting support for the country’s position on the West Philippine Sea dispute, Aquino said: “The short answer is yes. But in the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit in 2012 in Vientiane, Laos, when we stood our ground and mentioned our position in this matter, it was the European Union, amongst others...that supported our line of settling matters through peaceful means and in accordance with international law.”

He said there’s now “a deeper appreciation of exactly what the issue is and who are involved in this particular issue.”

He added that “it’s not just us and our big brother to the West, not just them and Vietnam, but even countries outside the region.”

France went as far as opposing “occupation” by force of one country by another in a joint statement with the Philippines, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel categorically stated that China must recognize arbitration as a way to settle the dispute.

Beijing has rejected the Philippines’ arbitration case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

While expressing belief the Chinese would not attack the Philippines, Aquino said “China will decide based on its own lines.”

He reiterated to European leaders the country’s commitment to uphold the rule of law in coming up with a peaceful solution to disputes in the region.

Investments

Aquino said he and his officials talked to government leaders and 19 companies and they all praised the economic performance of the country.

“From our engagements in Europe alone, we are expecting around $2.38 billion in investments in the sectors of manufacturing, energy, the IT-BPM (information technology-business process management sector), infrastructure, transport,” Aquino said, adding a major manufacturing company is exerting extra effort to be able to set up shop in the Philippines.

Of the $2.38-billion total investments, $908 million represented commitments and $1.47 billion was prospective. He did not give further details.

The President said he also managed to raise the issues that could provide more opportunities and markets for the Philippines.

He said he thanked the European Union for lifting the ban on Philippine air carriers. He also said an air services agreement was forged with France.

Aquino noted he also informed the leaders of the country’s efforts to comply with the 1978 Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for the Seafarers so the Filipino seamen’s employment would not be affected.

The President said the problem had been there since 2006 but had not been promptly addressed. Under his administration, Aquino said a law was passed authorizing the Maritime Industry Authority to be the single agency in charge of Filipino seafarers’ accreditation.

Aquino added the Department of Budget and Management allocated funds for maritime education and training standards for supervisors. Their job is to professionalize the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping monitoring system.

The other issue dealt with was the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for which the Philippines was given a “yellow card” as form of warning.

“So there was a 16-item checklist of things that we have to comply with. We reported through (Agriculture) Secretary (Proceso) Alcala that 14 of the 16 have already been met,” he said.

“There are two things left: one is the amendment to the Fisheries Code; and the other is manning of the new inspectors. So I think we managed to convey that we are striving really hard to comply with all of these requirements so that our fishing industry and the people benefiting from the fishing industry will not suffer a ban on exports from the Philippines to the EU,” he said.

Aquino said a memorandum of understanding between the Development Academy of the Philippines and one of France’s most prominent schools for public service would also open up several areas for academic exchange and collaboration.

He said this would obviously help public servants gain more expertise, efficiency and professionalism.

“We also had agreement between the Philippines and Germany for what we call the social security agreement, which entitles Filipinos in Germany and their dependents to the social security benefits of German nationals and vice versa, German nationals in the Philippines to be entitled to benefits,” he said.

“We recognize and synchronize each other’s SSS (Social Security System) coverage. It will contribute to equality of treatment and eliminate dual coverage,” Aquino said.

On the Philippines’ bid for the lifting of duties on Philippine export products, Aquino said he welcomed the fact that it was mentioned to him several times that the country must enter into more free trade agreements.

“I think you are a witness to one of them asking me. So there seems to be a push for the Philippines to really accelerate the passage of the free trade agreements. And they were saying that others were ahead of us,” Aquino said.

“Now, I explained basically that perhaps, it goes hand in hand. Before there was not much interest in us, now when we entered government, the interest kept on increasing,” the President said.

He said government negotiators had been increased to 30 now from less than 20 to ensure the country’s interests would be protected.

“We are getting experts that can really tackle the negotiations on a point-by-point basis and the main reason that we hired more and we are hiring more is because there is a need to negotiate all of these FTAs, preferably simultaneously instead of sequentially,” Aquino said.