PHL, China mull establishment of industrial park in PHL

As relations improved between the Philippines and China, the two Asian neighbors, previously at odds over maritime claims in the South China Sea, are studying the possibility of putting up an industrial park for Chinese companies, a visiting Chinese official said Tuesday. 

Wu Zhengping, Director General of China’s Ministry of Commerce, said a China industrial zone was discussed with Filipino counterparts, saying many Chinese investors were encouraged to do business in the Philippines as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “successful and historic” state visit to Beijing last month.

“China will encourage companies to set up an industrial park with Chinese investments and we are working with Department of Trade and Industry to determine the site of the industrial park,” Wu told a press briefing after his two-day meeting with Philippine officials in Manila.

Duterte’s China trip, the first for a Philippine leader in five years, was dubbed as a milestone in the diplomatic ties between the two countries, which soured under his predecessor, Benigno S. Aquino III, who filed a case against Beijing to oppose its excessive claim in the South China Sea.

Duterte’s visit yielded loans and agreements worth $9 billion, which includes plan to shore up Chinese investments and improve poor infrastructure that has turned off foreign investors.

The Philippine leader also downplayed Manila’s victory before an international tribunal, which backed its maritime claims in the South China Sea, to improve ties with China.

China, which has restricted Filipino access to areas that is well within Philippine territory, has rejected the court ruling and belittled the court’s credibility.

Now that relations have improved under Duterte, Wu said it’s about time Chinese investors take advantage of the Philippines’ “high speed of economic growth.”

“Investment climate here is ideal,”  he said. “It is strategically located. That will be the attraction for Chinese companies to make investments here.”

“After the successful and historic visit of the President to China, there has been enthusiasm from the Chinese companies. Investments in the Philippines is increasing that’s why we are encouraging the Chinese companies to invest in industrial park,” Wu said. 

As of 2015, China is the Philippines’ second major trading partner, next to the United States.

Wu also said the Philippines and China have agreed to resume the Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the two countries in early 2017 to further improve trade and investment ties.

The Commission or JCTEC was last convened five years ago, Wu said.

Re-convening the meeting, he said, will be an opportunity for both sides to discuss priority projects that the Philippines would want China to invest in.

In his meetings with the Philippine side, Wu said, Filipino officials have conveyed that it wants China to invest in railways, airports, bridges, expressways, ports and airports.

“The internal process is going on within the Philippines. We will meet again and hopefully we will know the specific areas and projects in the near future,” Wu said. —KBK, GMA News