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| 20 SEPTEMBER 2007 | ||
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| 20 SEPTEMBER 2007 | ||
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PGMA's
Speech at the High-level Dialogue on Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focusing on
Asia-Pacific |
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Welcome to the Philippines. We are glad to witness this follow-through of Aid for Trade from its genesis in the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference in 2005. Congratulations to the Task Force that was set up after Hong Kong for its valuable recommendations of October 2006. We are also glad to be made aware of the continuing discussions on Aid for Trade in the WTO Committee on Trade and Development in Geneva. We continue the saga of this worthy program as we take great pleasure in having this high level Asia-Pacific Review of Aid for Trade. Aid for Trade has rightfully brought together, and for the first time, the trade and finance communities. This conference highlights the Asian dimension of Aid for Trade. This dimension is significant because the world is bullish on Asia and our ability to help drive positive change in the world. In this conference governments, donors and the private sector address specific challenges and dialogue about what is working in the region and what is not. They prioritize needs and move towards shared solutions. The discussions will result in proposals and recommendations on how Aid for Trade should proceed within Asia and the Pacific. We look forward to beneficiary countries making trade a greater priority, and aid donors scaling up trade-related official development assistance and offering their expertise. We also look forward to stronger partnerships with the private sector to develop increased private-public financing. This conference helps create an impetus for collective action. This meeting comes at a time when the state of the Philippine economy brings hope and excitement – our growth is the highest in a generation, revenue is now on track and job creation is strong. Our deficit is down, consumer confidence is up and inflation is holding steady. The 7.5% GDP increase in the second quarter and the 10% gain in capital investment are in line with what the Asian Development Bank says the country needs in order to replicate the poverty-eradicating growth of Asia’s economic success stories. Poverty alleviation is the number one most important part of our agenda and our vision to lift the Philippines into the ranks of the modernized nations in twenty years. The foundation of our economic comeback is wide, deep and solid. Across the board, the nation’s economy is pointed in the right direction, and for all the right reasons. According to Biz News Asia, there are three reasons why the economy grew so strongly in the first half – spending by consumers and the government, the expansion of services, (which means telecommunications, business process outsourcing and banking), and more industrial production. There was plenty of money in the economy; that is why consumers and government were able to spend a lot. Overseas workers remitted dollars, which were converted into pesos, and which were funneled into the banks and used to buy housing from developers and cellular phones and e-load from stores or retailers. The biggest single act that led to the surge in our economy was the passage of our value added tax which in one bold stroke raised enormous amounts of new revenue. We followed up the pain of tax raising measures with the gain that comes from significant investment in people and progress. We believe in strong global engagement for our country and our people to grow our economy, ensure peace and security and lift our nation out of poverty. Figuratively speaking, the more bridges we build, the more people can cross to new lands and new ideas. We must be open to the world and peoples and places other than our own. That is what the 21st century will be about. We believe in the power of the global trading system to alleviate poverty and modernize nations through market forces. That does not mean we believe that countries like the Philippines are ready to compete head-to-head today in every sector, but it does mean that we cannot afford to be afraid of globalization. The multilateral trading system, through the Doha Round, remains the best option to address poverty and improve standards of living around the world through an agreed set of international trade rules. It offers a major opportunity to put in place internationally significant reforms and reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, create meaningful and substantial market access in agriculture, industrial goods and services, and introduce improved WTO rules and trade facilitation arrangements. This conference shows that we do not overlook the fact that the Doha Development Agenda was launched with an emphasis on integrating a developmental dimension into all elements of the negotiations. WTO acknowledges the need to provide special and differential treatment for developing members who require maximum flexibility under the international trade rules. To make the Doha Round truly a Development Round as it is being billed: (1) there must be greater coherence or convergence of policies among international development institutions (e.g. World Bank, IMF, ADB, WTO) so that trade is mainstreamed in the development agenda and therefore capacity building can be focused and targeted and (2) we must review special and differential treatment beyond just the phasing of commitments but also capacity building and sufficient flexibility to pursue domestic development goals. Thus this conference contributes to making the Doha Round truly a Development Round. This meeting is well timed as a global event, coming at the heels of the APEC leaders meeting in Sydney that signaled the need for breakthroughs in the WTO negotiations alongside more focused and more strategic capacity building among member economies. The developed nations were the prime movers behind global trade when it suited them; now some countries are slowing things down. That is not right nor good for our respective economies. There has been a ray of hope in APEC with the developed WTO members declaring that they are willing to fully adhere to the Doha mandate, in particular domestic subsidy cuts and disciplines, but they also ask to gain access to the developing world’s markets. We appreciate Pascal Lamy’s visit to the Philippines last February. I told him then and I say it again: I believe it is in his hands to find the right formula of subsidy cuts and market access that will finally break the impasse. But let me be clear: even as we work tirelessly to move the talks forward, we are not going to stand by and do nothing. For us, it is full speed ahead, preferably with Doha, but full speed nevertheless. We recognize that fragmentation of the multilateral trading system into trading blocs will result in a more complex set of trade rules incompatible and detrimental to the interests of developing country members. But meanwhile, with a hope that there will be a successful conclusion to the Doha Round, we are maximizing the economic opportunities provided under bilateral and regional free trade agreements if only to complement efforts under the multilateral trading system. I hope this Asia-Pacific conference ensures that WTO does not become a sideshow in global affairs. Asia and the Pacific are too important and the WTO has too much promise for that to happen. |
| PGMA inaugurates Luneta Seafarers' Center One Stop Shop |
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In a move to ensure the protection of the
country’s seafaring employment industry, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
inaugurated today the two-storey Luneta Seafarers’ Center One-Stop Shop that
would facilitate the needs of Filipino seafarers. From the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters in Mandaluyong City where she keynoted this morning the high-level dialogue on “Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focusing on Asia and the Pacific,” the President proceeded to Rizal Park in Manila to lead the ceremonial ribbon cutting to formally open the seafarers’ One Stop Shop. The President was welcomed by Luneta Seafarers’ Welfare Foundation Chairman Don Ramon Bagatsing, Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines President Gregorio Oca, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Deputy Administrator Hans Cacdac, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Marianito Roque, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Administrator Vicente Suazon and Professional Regulation Commission Chairperson Leonor Trison-Rocero. The President inspected the One-Stop Shop which houses the satellite offices of POEA, OWWA, MARINA and PRC and was given a briefing on the masterplan for the 2,516-square meter Luneta Seafarers’ Center. The Center has a dormitory for seafarers, first class sheds made of Dacron cloth, manning information booths and the One-Stop Shop. The One-Stop Shop aims to facilitate the dissemination of information on the various concerns of manning agencies and the seafarers such as the processing of Overseas Employment Certificates, Seaman’s Registration Certificates, approval of contracts, renewal and other concerns surrounding the procurement of a Seaman’s Book, Qualification Documentation and Certification, among others. Seafarers can also inquire on scholarship programs and livelihood development for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the One-Stop Shop. The Philippines remains the biggest source of seafarers in the global market for almost three decades now. Demand for Filipino seafarers has been growing at the average rate of 10 percent every year in spite of competition posed by emerging sources of labor such as China, Ukraine, India and Greece. Filipino seafarers contribute at least $300 million every year to the economy through their remittances to their families here. |
| President underscores importance of successful end of Doha Round |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called today
for a renewed sense of urgency in an early and successful conclusion of the
Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations which she
described as the best option to address poverty and improve living standards
around the world through an agreed global trading rules. In her keynote address at the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-sponsored high level dialogue on “Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focusing on Asia and the Pacific,” the President took note of the conference’s possible contribution in the final conclusion of the WTO negotiations. “This conference highlights the Asian dimension of Aid for Trade. This dimension is important because the world is bullish on Asia and our ability to help drive positive change in the world,” she said. “I hope this Asia-Pacific conference ensures that WTO does not become a sideshow in global affairs. Asia and the Pacific are too important and the WTO has too much promise for that to happen,” she added. She stressed that to ensure that Doha Round evolve into a Development Round as it is being touted, “there must be greater coherence or convergence of policies among such global development institutions as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and WTO “so that trade is mainstreamed in the development agenda and therefore capacity building can be focused and targeted.” Secondly, “we must review special and differential treatment beyond just the phasing of commitments but also capacity building and sufficient flexibility to pursue domestic development goals,” the President added. She said the ADB conference would give attention to the specific challenges each member economy faces so it could benefit from new trading opportunities and discuss what is not good as well as what would work well for the region. “They prioritize needs and move towards shared solutions. The discussions will result in proposals and recommendations on how Aid for Trade should proceed within Asia and the Pacific,” the President said. “This conference helps create an impetus for collective action,” she added. The President expressed the hope that beneficiary countries would make trade their priority and aid-donors increasing their trade-related official development assistance as well as share their technical expertise. She also underscored the need to strengthen private sector participation in increasing public-private financing. The President also said that the holding of the conference in the Philippines is well-timed as the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in their meeting in Sydney two weeks ago “signaled the need for breakthroughs in the WTO negotiations alongside more focused and more strategic capacity building among member economies.” She noted that the conference comes at a time when the Philippine economy is making significant gains. “This meeting comes at a time when the state of the Philippine economy brings hope and excitement, “ the President said, as she cited the 7.5 percent economic growth in the second quarter—“the highest in a generation,” the budget surplus in August, more jobs created, deficit down, consumer confidence up and inflation is steady. “The 7.5 percent GDP increase in the second quarter and the 10 percent gain in capital investment are in line with what ADB says the country needs in order to replicate the poverty-eradicating growth of Asia’s economic success stories,” she said. She reiterated her administration’s thrust to eradicate poverty in the country as spelled out in its agenda. Aside from the tough economic and fiscal reforms instituted by her administration, the President said the government is also engaged in global trading to grow the economy, alleviate poverty and modernize the Philippines. “So meanwhile, with a hope that there will be a successful conclusion to the DOHA Round, we are maximizing the economic opportunities provided under bilateral and regional free trade agreements if only to complement efforts under the multilateral trading system,” she said. WTO negotiations resumed in Geneva early this month, with agriculture and non-agriculture market access -- the two major areas of contention that blocked the six-year-old Doha Round from making progress – the focus of the trade talks. The Aid-for-Trade initiative, launched at the WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in 2005, “seeks to help the least developed and smallest countries benefit from new trading opportunities by building the necessary capacity to trade effectively and efficiently with donor support coordinated through multilateral partnerships with institutions like the WTO, the World Bank, and regional development banks,” according to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and ADB President Haruhiko Kuroca. While noting that the opening up of markets and expanding of trading opportunities stimulate economic growth and higher living standards, the two WTO officials noted that countries still isolated from the global trading system need large adjustment costs to link up with global markets. The two-day conference aims to specifically study the needs of each economy, especially the developing nations, in order to join the global trade market. |
| New Dutch, Swede envoys call on PGMA |
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The new ambassadors of Sweden and The
Netherlands assured President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today that they will
work hard to further strengthen the bilateral relations of their countries
with the Philippines during their tour of duty here. Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Inger Ultvedt of the Kingdom of Sweden and Robert Gerard Brinks of The Netherlands issued the assurance when they presented their credentials to the President in a simple ceremony this afternoon at Malacańang’s Rizal (Ceremonial) Hall. Ultvedt told President Arroyo that she would work closely to keep the strong bilateral relations and the close cooperation on trade and investment and security between Sweden and the Philippines. Brinks, for his part, assured the President that Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of The Netherlands instructed him to maintain the strong relationship of her country with the Philippines. “It is an honor for me to relay to you, Madam President, the best wishes and regards of her Majesty, Queen Beatrix,” Brinks told the President. “I’m sure the relations between our countries will be more prosperous during your tour of duty here in the Philippines. Welcome to the Philippines and congratulations,” the President said in accepting the credentials of Ultvedt and Brinks. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo was present during the ceremony. |
| PGMA orders BOC to speed up communications tech projects to bolster anti-smuggle drive |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed today
the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to speed up the implementation of its
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects to bolster its
anti-smuggling capabilities. The President issued the directive during the BOC Revenue Command Conference at Malacańang’s Heroes Hall this afternoon. The Chief Executive said the BOC should explore the possibility of funding its ICT program through the Millennium Challenge Account and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) Account, according to BOC Deputy Commissioner for Management Information System Alexander Arevalo. “Basically, she asked us to look into the possibility of funding a system that would track the inventory of petroleum, first in Subic,” Arevalo said. The BOC updated the President on the status of its “E-Customs” and “Action Plan through ICT Projects.” The action plan includes keeping track of the movement of petroleum products and imported vehicles in the country’s ports, inter-agency clearances, permits and tax credit certificates (TCC), the procurement of container X-rays and “executive dashboards” for examiners, district collectors and the BOC commissioners. Arevalo told the President of the need for a reliable tracking of actual inventory to successfully curb smuggling of petroleum products into the country. Arevalo said BOC’s strategy is to “account for the last liter of inventory - as petroleum companies do,” and this can be accomplished by deploying a “petroleum inventory management system as used by oil firms.” As for vehicle smuggling, the BOC said the problem or the “vulnerability” lies in “underdeclaration, misdeclaration, misclassification, misdescription” and “inter-agency gaps.” To fill the enforcement gap, the BOC recommended the following strategy: “Track all details on each vehicle import permit, taxes paid, registration that is transparent to all agencies involved such as the BOC, Land Transportation Office, Bureau of International Revenue, and others.” The BOC plans to “deploy a unified Customized Vehicle Import Processing System for all concerned agencies” starting next year. The CVIPS will be installed in the ports of Subic, Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) by the first quarter of 2008, and the ports of Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro by the second quarter of 2008. The BOC also reported to the President about the “vulnerability” of “paper-based” permits and clearances coming from other agencies which are faked, tampered, reused; and difficult to account for.” To overcome these “vulnerabilities,” the BOC plans to “accept electronic permits only” by deploying an “Electronic Permit & Clearance System under the National Single Window.” |
