Philippine economic managers and top-ranking Chinese officials on Monday started discussions in Beijing on how to move forward and roll out the big-ticket Philippine projects covered by the agreements signed during President Duterte’s China state visit last year.
Government officials, led by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, are in Beijing for a series of meetings with Chinese officials to iron out the details of the proposed infrastructure projects that China has offered to fund.
“We submitted last November a list of projects to the Chinese government through the Chinese embassy in Manila for their review. The Philippine team would like to get their reactions and determine what their priorities are and see whether these also match our priorities,” Dominguez said.
The projects tabled for discussion during the group’s two-day visit in Beijing include irrigation systems, power generation plants and railways construction, according to the Department
of Finance.
“We admire China’s experience in all of these fields. China has demonstrated that it is among the best in the world in executing big infrastructure projects. This will be our second discussion [with Chinese officials about the projects] since November last year. We hope that in our visit here, we would be able to proceed with the projects that are ready to be implemented,” Dominguez said in an interview with members of the Chinese media in Beijing.
The visit to China also aims to cement the strong friendship and economic cooperation between the Philippines and China, according to Dominguez.
“President Duterte told me to extend his best regards to the Chinese officials that we are meeting here, as well as to the people of China, who showered him with a warm welcome during his state visit last year,” Dominguez said.
He said the generous assistance ofered by China to the Philippines is the concrete result of the President’s foreign-policy rebalancing toward accelerated integration with Asean and its major Asian trading partners—China, Japan and South Korea.
“The President has recognized the importance of China in the region, and he has redirected our economy more toward China and the Asean than to the West. I believe that China will continue to lead the world and continue to lead the Asean to become the engine of global growth,” Dominguez said.
The Philippine team also includes secretaries Benjamin E. Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management, Arthur P. Tugade of the Department of Transportation and Mark A. Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and Director General Ernesto M. Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority.