De Venecia proposes Phil-Korean trade partnership accord
Manila Bulletin, 18 February 2005
De Venecia proposes Phil-Korean trade partnership accord
SEOUL, Korea - Philippine Speaker Jose de Venecia has proposed to South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae Chan and Speaker of Parliament Kim Won Ki the opening of negotiations for a Philippine-Korean Economic Partnership Agreement that would lead to large-scale investments, trade, and technology transfer to the country.
In separate meetings here, De Venecia told both officials that the Philippines is set to finalize a parallel economic partnership agreement with Japan by June or July this year.
The Korean prime minister said the proposal for economic partnership will be discussed when the Korean president visits Manila later this year at the invitation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
De Venecia reported these developments Wednesday night to Ms. Arroyo, who lauded the parallel initiative that could also pave the way for informationtechnology cooperation.
He told the Korean speaker that the House of Representatives will create a Philippine-Korean parliamentary committee to push for the economic partnership pact.
"The economic partnership agreement, once completed, will strengthen the Philippines’ economic position in Southeast Asia," he said.
De Venecia also took up his proposals during the two meetings for the establishment of an Asian Parliamentary Assembly and the holding of global and regional inter-faith dialogues in regions of conflict to avert what he described as a "clash of religions."
The Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP), at its fifth general assembly in Islamabad last December, approved in principle the Philippine proposal, converting the AAPP into the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) in five years.
De Venecia visited Seoul on the invitation of the speaker of the Korean Parliament and was accompanied by Reps. Bienvenido Abante Jr. (6th Dist., Manila), Mary Ann Susano (2nd Dist., Quezon City), and Raul Gonzalez Jr. (Lone Dist., Iloilo City).
Here, the Philippine leader also spoke at the 5th World Summit on Good Governance, where he asked for inter-faith dialogues to mediate regional conflicts, and was awarded a doctorate (honoris causa) in humanities by the Korean University.
De Venecia asked the Korean government to expedite a railways agreement that would pave the way for construction of the proposed Manila-Calamba City segment of the Southrail.
De Venecia has batted for years for the modernization of the old Philippine railways, including the rebuilding of the Southrail all the way to Sorsogon in the Bicol region, the Northrail from Manila to La Union passing through Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Pangasinan, two rail lines on Panay island, and the building of entirely new lines in Mindanao.
De Venecia and former Energy Secretary Vince Perez asked the Korean power sector to undertake the building of new power plants in the Visayas and Mindanao to avert a power crisis that could develop in the next two years.
The Speaker asked the Korean government to review the $2-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant contract with the objective of either converting the facility into a coal- or gas-powered plant or scrapping it altogether.
"The nuclear power plant has been in criminal neglect since 1985," De Venecia said. "We are still servicing the $2-billion debt, which has been partly responsible for our foreign exchange crisis."
During his meetings, De Venecia also proposed an agro-industrial park in Mindoro to be powered by electricity from Batangas City via underwater cable.
"The Korean officials have responded with great interest in our proposals," De Venecia said.
