China has identified four priorities in strengthening its cooperation with the Philippines in the next six years: agriculture, infrastructure, energy and people-to-people exchanges.
Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian Huang told the Pandesal Forum yesterday the Philippines and China should “not to allow (our) differences to be in our way of cooperation, not to allow our differences to become disputes and not to allow our differences to affect our overall relationship and mutual beneficial cooperation. “
Huang did not mention specifics but the Philippines and China had long been in a tussle over the West Philippine Sea.
Huang said with the assumption of the new administration, “your economy is picking up momentum.”
“We believe your future will be also deeply rooted in your own national development… will be deeply rooted in good neighborhoods, of friendly neighborhoods. We can work together… this kind of cooperation will bring more dividends to the Filipino people and will provide momentum to your economic and social development,” he said.
Huang said China has been the largest trading partner of the Philippines for seven consecutive years with trade volume of $40 billion last year. But according to China’s statistics, he said trade volume is two times that number of almost my $90 billion.
Huang added as one of the Philippines’ largest investors, China has invested a total of P161 billion, about four times that of the previous six years is increasing.
“After the new administration took office, I can see that a lot of investors from China have shown the great interest to come to invest in this country not only from private sector,” Huang added.
In citing the four priorities, Huang said:
“Agriculture will become the most prioritized area of cooperation. Agriculture has everything to do with people’s lives. Next is infrastructure such as roads and bridges… but also new infrastructure like big data, 5g. In the energy area, we know that your future development relies heavily on energy. Last but not least, is people-to-people exchanges.”
On a final note, Huang said China and the Philippines should jointly maintain peace and stability in the region. – Irma Isip
