PGMA brings home US$ 3-B worth of "goodies" from Japan, Brazil

By Joel C. Atencio

MANILA, June 30 – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has brought home plenty of economic “goodies” amounting to US$ 3 billion in investments from Japan and Brazil.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said on Tuesday that the Mrs. Arroyo’s visits abroad might be international, but the beneficiaries were always for the people of the Philippines.

”One key to keeping our economy strong at home has been a strong engagement with other countries abroad. We live in a complex and interconnected world,” Remonde said.

”It is critical that the leader of any nation ensures that their economy and their people are fully integrated into the opportunities and benefits that come from being an active part of the global economy and that their political, cultural and security interests are understood and protected,” Remonde said.

He said that the President had worked tirelessly to ensure that the Philippine economy and the Filipino people actively engaged in the global economy and that the country's allies and security partners understand their positions and interests,” Remonde said.

Remonde, who was in Japan, Brazil and Hong Kong, China with Mrs. Arroyo, earlier said that the President was just using all the opportunities she could to promote the interest of the Filipinos.

”The President’s trip are a big help to our economy in the face of the global economic crisis,” Remonde said.

Remonde said the four-day, three-city state visit to Brazil, netted five bilateral agreements and a joint statement between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Brazilian Association of Girlondo Breeders.

He said said two of the accords focus on agricultural and commercial cooperation. The others are on Bioenergy Cooperation between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil.

In Brasilia, Brazil’s capital city, she met with her Brazilian counterpart, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and discussed ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and Brazil, and people-to-people linkages.

President Arroyo is very much impressed with the container yard managed by a Filipino firm in Brazil, Remonde said.

Mrs. Arroyo has inaugurated the expanded container yard of the Suape Container Terminal (SCT), a seaport facility in northeastern Brazil operated by Tecon Suape, S.A. (TSSA), a subsidiary of Philippine-based International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

Malacañang said the expanded terminal area was part of ICTSI’s US$ 120-million phased investment program that would cement SCT’s position as a key Brazilian port serving trans-Atlantic trade.

ICTSI, in a press statement, said that the investment program started in 2002, a year after ICTSI won the 30-year concession to manage, operate and develop the SCT.

The Suape Port visit of Mrs. Arroyo was part of the President’s visit to Brazil, a first for an incumbent Philippine president.

In Japan, Trade and Industry Minister Toshiro Nikai expressed satisfaction over the implementation of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), saying he was optimistic about its smooth implementation, adding that Japan would support the promotion of tourism exchanges between Filipino and Japanese youths.

Nikai said study grants from Japan, to be sourced from official development assistance (ODA) funds, provide four-year courses, the graduates of which would be allowed to work in Japanese companies.

Other gains from the four-day trip to Japan include:

A Y1.013 trillion-Grant Agreement between the Philippines and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Flood Disaster Mitigation Project in Camiguin Island.

The accord was signed by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Ralph Recto and JICA president Dr. Sadako Ogata.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also signed by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) president Hiroshi Watanabe under which JBIC guarantees the floatation of up to billion yen-dominated foreign (Samurai) bonds in the Japanese capital market in the next two years through the Philippines’ Department of Finance.

Japanese companies, including Toshiba, Marubeni and Tokyo Electric, Toyota, Sumitomo, and Mitsubishi UFJ also made firm commitments to invest and/or increase their investments in the Philippines.

Other commitments reached during the President’s visit include the supply of high performance construction and machinery for large-scale infrastructure development and mining operations; supply of agricultural machinery for increased agricultural productivity and improvement of food self-sufficiency.

Toyota Tsusho Corp. has committed to develop five jathropa plantations, each with an area of 20,000 hectares, to produce 300,000 tons of biodiesel fuel annually and generate some 12,000 new jobs. Annual sales from the project was estimated to hit about US$ 200 million.

The corporation also said it would put up 40 windmills in Burgos, Ilocos Sur.

Aruze Corp., the world leader in the manufacture of gaming machines, has committed US$ 4 billion to US$ 6 billion for the construction of a hotel resort and convention complex in the Philippines

During his meeting with President Arroyo, Japan’s Trade and Industry Minister Nikai sought the cooperation of the Philippines in the implementation of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) under the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan as part of Japan’s stimulus plan for Asia.

The stimulus plan includes infrastructure and industrial development. (PNA)

RMA/JCA

Similar Posts:

• ICTSI Brazil terminal gets new cranes
• PGMA's four-day state visit to Brazil focuses on deepening bilateral relations
• PGMA global engagements enhance RP’s security and economic stability, says Remonde
• PGMA braves heavy rains in Brazil
• Closer RP-Brazil cooperation in development and production of renewable energy resources seen