SHAPING THE FUTURE President Aquino greets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing. The theme of the meeting is “Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.” Malacañang Photo
Back from two summits of regional leaders, President Benigno Aquino III on Friday reported praises for the Philippines from fellow heads of state, which, he said, showed that the country is once more on the global stage.
Mr. Aquino arrived on board Philippine Airlines Flight PR001 at exactly 3:45 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 after attending the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing, China, and the 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Naypyitaw, Burma (Myanmar).
“Our meetings were with the leaders of Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, India and China. There was an exchange of knowledge about good governance, improving agriculture, and faster and more efficient trade. To improve what we call the people-to-people cooperation, we entered into agreements to improve the initiatives in education and tourism,” Mr. Aquino said.
‘Red carpet’ for PH
The President highlighted his talks with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, which, he said, made him feel that the PNG leader had “rolled out the red carpet” for the Philippines.
“It is clear that other countries, which shunned the Philippines before, now come and look up to us,” Mr. Aquino said.
He said O’Neill invited the Philippines to share its expertise in fisheries, finance, agriculture, public health, education and many others with Papua New Guinea.
“In return, we will have better trade relations with them. He joked that [our experts] may not return to the Philippines because [Papua New Guinea] will take care of them very well,” he said.
O’Neill also said that Papua New Guineans have made the Philippines a destination for medical tourism aside from coming to the country to study, Mr. Aquino reported.
Thai strongman
The President said he also had a long discussion with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha “about the things [our countries] go through.” He noted that the Philippines and Thailand have had similar problems, but did not go into specifics.
Mr. Aquino expressed confidence in stronger ties between the Philippines and Thailand, and said Prayuth invited him to make a state visit to Thailand.
“Before we ended our talk, Prime Minister [Prayuth] and I shared the steps we both have taken to ensure good governance,” he said.
Meeting with Xi
In his brief meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Mr. Aquino said he thanked the Chinese leader for his warm welcome for the Philippine delegation and “for the chance to start the process toward a better relationship.”
“We also mentioned that our primary objective is to improve the situation of our countrymen and this is where our decisions are based on,” Mr. Aquino said.
He said that before he left for Burma, he formally invited the leaders of the Asean countries to the 23rd Apec summit, which will be held in the Philippines next year.
Mr. Aquino said the Apec and Asean summits allowed the Philippines to be part of the collective effort of nations to “push for progress” and together those nations face challenges that know no boundaries, among them climate change, the spread of Ebola, and terrorism.”
“For every minute we spent in Beijing and Naypyitaw, we Filipinos showed that the Filipino can be counted on. We face challenges instead of running away from them and we are ready to cooperate in facing challenges,” the President said.
Bullish Moody’s
Mr. Aquino added that he also met with Moody’s chief executive officer Raymond McDaniel, who told him that it was “very rare” for a country to receive a credit ratings upgrade and be given a positive outlook as well.
“Let us remember that this happened when credit ratings agencies are very careful and conservative,” he said.
Mr. Aquino said another good news was that in meeting with Sanofi executives, he learned that the dengue vaccines being developed by the pharmaceutical company may soon reach the Philippines.
He said that Johnson and Johnson would put up a service center in the Philippines, generating 500 more jobs for Filipinos.
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