Philippines, Korea sign 5 deals

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and South Korea signed five agreements on Monday that will see more Korean investments into the country, including the building of a power plant in the Subic Bay economic zone in Zambales.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, second from right, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, second from left, look on during the signing of the Philippine-Korea Framework On Economic Development Cooperation Fund Loans agreement by South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Rosario at the Malacanang palace in Manila, Philippines on Monday November 21, 2011. The two countries signed a total of five agreements during their meeting. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA

President Aquino and visiting President Lee Myung-bak witnessed the signing of the five agreements by their respective officials.

Speaking about the agreements, Mr. Aquino said two of them had to do with the “growing volume of development assistance” from Korea–the Framework agreement for grant aid and the Framework arrangement concerning loans from the Economic Cooperation Development Fund from 2011 to 2013.

The first agreement seeks to facilitate the processing of grant projects while the second will enable the government to obtain loans from Korea to a maximun of $500 million. The two agreements were signed between Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Korean Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-hwan.

Another agreement, signed between Energy Secretary Jose Almendras and Korean Minister of Knowledge Economy Hong Suk-Woo,  had to do with the setting up of a power plant in the Subic Bay economic zone “using environment-friendly technology to address the medium-term and long-term projected electricity needs of the Luzon Grid.”

In line with the government’s bid to rice self-sufficiency, Aquino said two agreements were signed that would promote agricultural cooperation between the Philippines and Korea.

The first agreement will involve a multi-industry cluster project where the use of agricultural resources of both countries would be promoted while the second sought to contribute significantly to sustain rice self-sufficiency levels by the year 2013 through the Jalaur river multipurpose project. Both pacts were signed between Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Korean Agriculture Minister Suh Kyu-yong and Korea Export-Import Bank president Kim Yong-hwan.