By Rui Hu, Editor

Philippines-China (Chongqing) Trade and Investment Forum was held on September 16 in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Chen Min’er, Secretary of CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee who was visiting the country, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

Other attendees included Carlos Dominguez III, Economic Management Chief of Philippine Cabinet and Secretary of Finance, Aquilino Pimentel III, President of PDP-Laban and Senator, Alfonso Cusi, Secretary of Energy and Vice Chairman of PDP–Laban, and other leaders of the ruling party, Rowel S. Barba, Undersecretary of Department of Trade and Industry, Zhao Jianhua, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of the Philippines, Guo Yezhou, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Wu Cunrong and Wang Fu and other leaders of Chongqing.

Government officials, representatives of the business world and media outlets from the two countries came to the Forum to share development and cooperation opportunities. They worked together to achieve greater fruits in the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

Chen Min’er said: “President Xi Jinping stressed that we should grasp the trend of the times from a strategic and long-term perspective, leading the healthy development of bilateral ties. It is necessary to continue to promote the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Philippine ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. This highlights the development direction of the China-Philippines relationship. The Philippines is a world-famous archipelagic country hailed as Pearl on the West Pacific. China and the country, facing each other over the sea, share a longstanding friendship. Chongqing is the only municipality directly under the Central Government in West China and plays a unique and significant role in the country’s regional development and pattern of opening to the outside world. The city is thoroughly implementing the instructions and meeting requirements of President Xi Jinping to develop innovative big data intelligence, construct modern industrial systems, and promote environmental protection in the upper Yangtze River. It accelerates the achievement of twin goals and parallel progress in its growth strategy.”

He added that the Philippines and Chongqing enjoyed close ties and solid cooperation foundation. The former, as a vital player and promoter of the BRI, is engaging in building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC); the latter links the Belt and Road and the Yangtze River Economic Belt and is a hub of ILSTC. The room for bilateral cooperation is extensive, considering their matched strategies. Chongqing would like to deepen win-win cooperation on all fronts with the Philippines and contribute to the growth of China-Philippines ties. The city is going to work with the country to scale up investment and trade. Capitalizing on platforms such as the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) and ILSTC, Chongqing will explore new investment fields, optimize trade structure and drive the economic and trade cooperation into a new level. The two parties are expected to develop the high-tech industry. Relying on Smart China Expo (SCE), digital economy, smart manufacturing, and other sectors will see new growth engines. Chongqing and the Philippines will jointly promote practical cooperation among companies. They will better business environment, take advantage of chambers of commerce, rev up investment information exchange and essential project promotion, and stimulate extensive cooperation in energy, electromechanical industry, automobile and motorcycle, and construction. They plan to work together to intensify local cultural communication. Diversified collaboration is likely to be seen in education, medical care, and cultural tourism. Talent exchange will be more frequent.

Dominguez said in his speech that the BRI proposed by President Xi Jinping brought the Asian economies closer together, enhanced trade linkages and opened seamless links for investment and the Philippines would continue to play its role actively. Under the joint efforts of the two countries’ leaders, China and the Philippines are getting closer. Communication and cooperation in all fields see rich fruits. China now becomes the largest trade partner of the Philippines, leading to booming investment and tourism of the latter. The Philippines has witnessed the positive changes introduced by the improved China-Philippines relationship. The “Build, Build, Build” program will create numerous investment opportunities that will unleash the inherent strengths of the country’s economy. The Philippines would like to work with Chongqing to yield fruitful outcomes. It will improve the business environment and provide better services for companies.

Wu Cunrong and Rowel S. Barba made economic and trade communication and cooperation promotion on behalf of Chongqing and the Philippines, respectively. Representatives of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Manila Branch of the Bank of China, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCII) and companies delivered keynote speeches and exchanged views on high-quality development of entity economy, make innovation in financial products and services and upgrading of the modern service industry. They tried to figure out new opportunities and fields for cooperation.

Nine economic and trade cooperation agreements signed on the day between Chongqing and the Philippines valuing USD 4.6 billion, involving industries such as motorcycle, professional commercial vehicles, automobiles, and parts, steel plate production, new retail and international cold chain logistics. The two parties also held one-to-one investment and trade matchmaking conference for companies, in a bid to strengthen communication and promote win-win cooperation.

Source: CQ News
Related links: