Davao International Airport
October 21, 2016
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte reported to the public the fruits of his State Visits to Brunei Darussalam and the People’s Republic of China upon his late night arrival at the Davao International Aiport.
“In both my visits, we reviewed the sum total of our relations and explored other areas of undertakings that opened doors for more meaningful engagements… A clear focus was directed more on economic cooperation and partnership to benefit our people,” he enthusiastically said.
In Brunei, President Rodrigo Duterte met Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah where they discussed ways of further deepening bilateral relations, particularly through economic cooperation. Brunei committed to help develop Mindanao’s halal industry, especially in certification and in capacity building.
“Brunei and Mindanao can be twin hubs for the production and export of halal-certified products,” he said.
Brunei and the Philippines agreed to intensify trade and investments and in working closely to further bolster the role of the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) in growing the two nations’ economies. He said that both countries also agreed to address connectivity issues through increased air and sea linkages to facilitate trade and commerce.
The President extended his debt of gratitude to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for Brunei’s role as a partner for peace and secured his continued support for the Philippines’ efforts to pursue just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
The war on drugs also extended its range for Brunei agreed to have a full cooperation against illegal drug trade.
“To ensure progress in our discussions, we instructed officials of our respective Governments to immediately work together in transforming these agreed agenda into specific plans and actions,” said the President.
In China, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte met with the leaders and they agreed to have full cooperation on trade, infrastructure, tourism, science and technology, health, and finding peaceful means to solve the issues on maritime disputes.
The Philippines and China signed 13 agreements that will provide the framework to carry out intensified economic cooperation between both countries.
“My talks have resulted in public financing agreements and private business deals valued at 24 billion US dollars,” said President Duterte.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) placed business to business Memoranda of Understanding at US$15.284 billion dollars on top of the US$9 billion US dollars in soft loans that the Philippines has secured from various banks and is expected to generate about two million jobs for the country.
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