Philippines sees closer strategic ties with Singapore

SINGAPORE (via PLDT)—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited here Monday night certain “powerful economic complementarities” that can lead to strategic partnerships between Singapore and the Philippines with the rich city state providing the capital and the Philippines supplying the human resources.

In a state dinner hosted by Singapore President S.R. Nathan in her honor at the Banquet Hall in Istana, official residence of the Singaporean leader, President Arroyo noted how Singapore has benefited from world-class Filipino technical, professional and management as well as care-giving skills

“Singapore has 13,000 of the Philippines’ information technology (IT) professionals, 7,000 of them are nurses and other healthcare providers, 6,000 are engineers and 5,000 architects,” she pointed out.

“As an investment destination, we are glad to be back in Singapore radar screen. Singapore businesses have growing investments in Philippine BPO facilities,” she added.

The President expressed elation over some Singaporean firms like Ascendas Net Quad and Asscot that have moved forward on property investments in the Philippines.

She said she is looking forward to Singaporean investment in tourism and feels gratified that a number of Singaporean firms have already built or still negotiating for the construction of tourism facilities in the Philippines.

The Chief Executive also welcomed the growing budget-airline links between the two countries like Cebu Pacific, Jet Star and Tiger Airways.

“May I ask all of you to join me in a toast to the good health and continued success of his Excellency President S. R. Nathan and to the further expansion and growth of the Philippines-Singapore relations,” she beamed in her toast to Nathan.

“We remain committed to continue seizing every opportunity to deepen our engagement and to further build on our dynamic and multi-faceted partnership,” she added.

The President bared that in her talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Shien Loong, they both agreed to start new air talks in order to increase travel between Singapore and the Philippines.

Philippines-Singapore relations go a long way since the Philippines opened a consulate in the city state in 1966, the year after it achieved its independence. Full diplomatic relations were established in August 1969 with the upgrade of the consulate to an embassy.

The state dinner wound up President Arroyo’s one-day state visit here as she left early Tuesday for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in Western Africa.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said in an interview that the President’s State Visit here was very important considering the close ties between the two countries.

“This is an important visit because Singapore and the Philippines are very close. As you can see, there is the Philippines-Singapore Business Council but also there are a lot of investments by Singaporean businessmen in the Philippines, there is a lot of tie-up between the two countries,” Romulo said.

Romulo said that by August, the Philippines will turn over the chairmanship of the ASEAN as well as the Asian regional forum to Singapore. (OPS) (pinoypress.net)