With the upcoming first China-ASEAN(the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expo to be held in Nanning, China on Nov. 3-6, the Philippines is looking forward to this concrete measure to promote the planned China-ASEAN free trade area, meanwhile viewing that the free trade area will further the economic and trade cooperation between China and the Philippines.

The bilateral economic and trade relations between China and the Philippines have witnessed rapid development in recent years and have improved significantly since China became a World Trade Organization member in 2001, Ramon Kabigting, director of Bureau of International Trade Relations of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua Tuesday.

"China has improved its standing as a trading partner. In 2003,China has become the 6th biggest trading partner of the Philippines," said Kabigting, adding that the Philippines has enjoyed a trade surplus with China and in the past three years, the country's trade with China grew at an average annual rate of 50.16 percent.

According to Chinese statistics, the trade volume between China and the Philippines soared to 9.4 billion US dollars in 2003, up 78.7 percent year-on-year. The 10 billion-dollar target for 2005 is likely to be exceeded as trade volume is expected to hit 13 billion dollars by the end of 2004, and the leaders of the two countries have set a target of 20 billion US dollars for the next five years during Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's state visit to China early September.

"These figures have shown that the economic and trade relations between China and the Philippines have become closer and further strengthened," Kabigting said. He added that Chinese economy is expanding rapidly, China has been a very positive influence on Philippine trade."

"So that if we have the FTA (free trade area), I think it can only be positive for us, it will improve the trade picture as we bring down the barriers between the two of us," Kabigting said.

He noted that since the Chinese and ASEAN leaders decided in 2002 to establish China-ASEAN free trade area by 2010, the Philippine government has engaged in an ongoing series of consultation, dialogues, and meetings with its constituents as some are concerned that special local industry and sectors will face more competition of Chinese goods.

"We have tried to present this FTA to our industries, to our consumers," he said, demonstrating that there are also gains from the FTA and this kind of promotion is an ongoing process.

The Philippines has expressed thankfulness to China for its granting flexibility to allow the Philippines to participate in the Early Harvest agreement of the China-ASEAN FTA by Jan. 1, 2005,and with its implementation, the Chinese goods will enter the Philippines with competitive prices, which is good for the consumers, Kabigting said.

He added that the implementation of the Early Harvest agreement will be under an manageable schedule and the products for tariff reducing is open for choice and negotiation between the two countries for mutual benefit double win.

He sees the agreement as a "confidence-building " measure strategically, which will show even the tariff were reduced, or ata zero rate, it will not harm the benefit of both sides, thus "we can do the rest" and promote the establishment.

As for investment, Kabigting said while there are some big Philippine companies who have entered the Chinese market, such as San Miguel and Metro Bank among others, and more leading companies will do the same, the Philippines now is eagerly expecting more Chinese investment on Philippine infrastructure, mining and manufacture industry.

Likewise, Philippine Trade Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that China and the Philippine authorities are finalizing the concerning issues of implement of the Early Harvest agreement by the Philippines next January and the two sides will continue the consultation on the process of the FTA establishment.

He also said the Philippines accepts Nanning as the venue of the annual China-ASEAN expo, as it's a city of good development and the Philippines is looking forward to the first expo.

Department officials said the Philippines will send a 70-memberdelegation to the expo, with trade Undersecretary Thomas Aquino to be the group leader, to promote the country's investment environment, tourism and priority commodities and explore business opportunities in China and other ASEAN countries.

Source: Xinhua