President’s Hall, Malacañan Palace
March 7, 2017
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte welcomed Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and the members of his delegation in a courtesy call in Malacañang.
Minister Shan is currently in Manila for the 28th Philippines-China Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation (JCETC), which serves as a quick follow through of President Duterte’s State Visit to China last October 2016 that led towards renewed bilateral relations.
Minister Shan and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez agreed on various initiatives geared towards improving overall levels of trade and investment between the Philippines and China during the JCETC. Among these is the Six-Year Development Program for Economic and Trade Cooperation (SYDP) that will serve as the overall framework for economic relations from 2017-2022.
A list of priority infrastructure projects by a Chinese credit facility was likewise discussed, wherein both countries agreed to encourage the private sector’s participation in various infrastructure projects, industrial parks development, cross border e-commerce, big data analytics, creative industries, electric vehicles, iron and steel, manufacturing, testing facilities, irradiation facilities, and export promotion.
Five Letters of Intent (LOI) for possible private sector investments from China were also noted during the re-convening of JCETC, which is the official bilateral mechanism for discussion of trade, investments and economic cooperation between the two countries.
In his short remarks, President Duterte said that the Philippines welcomes investments from China and that the country will continue to hold dialogues with the Chinese government.
Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Philippines Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana, and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua attended the meeting.
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