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ThAN
FORMER President and
now Speaker Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo said
that bilateral ties be-
tween the Philippines
and China have reached
new heights in recent
years, and this is evident
in the jurrp in China's
investrnent in the Phil'
ippines and in China'e
becoming the Philip-
pines' number one part-
ner in trade and indus-
try.
Speaker Aroyo made
her ke''note speedr on the
second dav of the Boao
Forum foi Asia (BFA)
Manila Conference at the
Shangri-La at the Fort,
Manila hotel in Taguig
Ciiy.
"Clearly, the economic
aIId bade cooperation be-
tween our two countdes is
as good as ithas ever been,
better ihanit has everbeen
in fact. The inain thing to
GUGr_SGMA
focus on now, is the imple- She said the PhiLippines
mentation side," said has to exert maximum ef-
Spealer Arroyo. fort to lemove on-the-
Under the initiative of eround bottlenecks that
Speaker Aroyo, who is a rpedelmple,rnerrtation of
memberoftheBFABoar4 proiects that involve trade
the Philippines hosted the and investment groups
2019 Boao Forum for Asia from China.
Manila Conference, with 'aVe hope that is the
the Federation of Filipino way your business plans
Chinese Chamber of Com-- will also end up. Welcome
merce arrd Industry, Inc. without restriction. We in
'the Philippines want to
(FFCCCU) as its BFA'S
mainparh€r, and thePhil- match vour enthusiasm
ippine Chamber of Com- ana thii is whal this Fo-
merce and Industry rum is all about. We want
(PCCI) as supporting you to know the Philip-
nine blisiness climate and
Partrler.
Boaothemeforihiscon- L that |
-*t-""tittg"l"*-
ference is "Concerted Ac- ly demonshated, ou-r busi-
tion for Coawron Devel- ness climate is very very
opment in the New Era." welcoming for your busi-
TheformerChiefExec- ' ness plans and I hope that
utive said that dwing the ship of "Coniprehensive will be the conclusion in
state visit ofChinese Pres- Strategic Cooperation", this Boao Forum in Ma-
ident Xi Jinping last No- sent a strong messate that nila," saidSpeaker Arroyo,
vember, he and President the two countries are part- member oI the Board of
Rodrigo Duterte decided ners in seeking common Dlectors of the Boao Fo-
to establish the relation- development rum for Asia-
- Speaker Arloyo re-
called that when she fust
entered governrrrent at the
Departrnent of Trade and
Indwtry in the 1980s, she
aheady wondered if Chi-
na would become "South-
east Asia's chief competi-
tor in the world market."
"Litde did we realize
thenthatChina is in a class
of itsowfi Now todatwe parties need to jointly
see it. That rather than a :
competitor, China has iphold the United Na-
tions-centered interna-
proven to be a Partner in
development. It is a mar-
tional system, and fhe
and
rules-baied multilateral
ket for Southeast Asia
its developing countries. trading system.
It is a donor, it is a provider
"Premier Li said that
China advocates free trade
of capital and technolo- and fair bade and has tak-
gy," said Spealer Arroyo.
en conqete actions to up-
At the opening of the hold fairness and equity.
Boao Forum inHainanlast
month, Speaker Arroyo
said Premiere Li Keqiang He said that {air trade
spoke of "Jointly Tackling must reflect multilateral,
Challmges for Common inclusive, and non-dis-
Development." criminatory PrinciPles. As
"Premier Li said that for the specific issues, theY
common development should be addressed
should be inclusive and through equal consulta-
deliver benefits to all. As tion in the larger trame-
hmderstoodhim,hespoke work of ftee trade in order
of "indusiveness" in the to reach a win-la/in solu-
sense of the antithesis to tion," said Speaker Ar-
"unequal income distribu-
tion " said Speaker Ar-
rovo.
'speaker Arroyo said foyo.
Premiere Li's call for com- SDeaker Arrovo be-
mon development was a Ievdsin globalizationald
free hade, tempered by
call for concerted action.
She said Li elaborated on
eachcounfry's unique his-
the elements of joint de- tory arrd situation. "Thus,
velopment and he de- I am pleased that China
has developed into a pow-
clared that multilateral-
ism is the right way to erful advocate for global-
ensure lasting prospedty
ization and ftee hade," she
and development. All added. pc}g c- (/