President Aquino holds bilateral meeting with
Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: The Philippines and
Malaysia on Sunday (Vladivostok time) expressed the need to be able to adopt a
common position in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with
regards to the conflicting claims over the West Philippine Sea.
President Benigno S. Aquino III met with
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting being held at the Far Eastern
Federal University on Russkiy Island here.
During their bilateral meeting, the two leaders
discussed topics on how to enhance investments and trade, defense cooperation,
the West Philippine Sea, the ASEAN, and the Philippine government-MILF peace
process.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario,
who was among the Philippine government officials present in the meeting, said
that both leaders expressed the need to be able to adopt a common position in
ASEAN on the West Philippine Sea dispute.
The Philippines, Malaysia, China, Brunei, Taiwan
and Vietnam have overlapping claims over the West Philippine Sea.
“Both countries are on board in terms of the six
principles that was agreed with ASEAN and so we are anxious to see how that can
be moved forward,” Del Rosario said during an interview with members of the
Philippine media covering the APEC summit.
“Both leaders had expressed the need to be able
to adopt a common position in ASEAN in terms of the challenges in the West
Philippine Sea, and we are also together in terms of support for the forward
movement of the Code of Conduct,” he stressed
Del Rosario also said that President Aquino and
Prime Minister Abdul Razak both expressed optimism and expectation that the
peace negotiations could be finalized “in the next couple of months.”
The Foreign Affairs Secretary likewise said that
during the bilateral meeting, President Aquino also expressed his gratitude to
Malaysia for being an effective facilitator. He said that Prime Minister Abdul
Razak also expressed his desire to be present when the peace agreement is
signed.
As to trade and investments, Del Rosario said,
there were trade and investment initiatives in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong and
that these initiatives “will try to move the many opportunities offered between
the two countries in terms of enhancing bilateral trade and investments.”
Aside from Secretary del Rosario, also present
in the bilateral meeting were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Energy
Secretary Rene Almendras, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Socioeconomic
Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
PND (co/3:26pm)
Philippines and Vietnam renew friendship and
cooperation
VALDIVOSTOK, Russia: The Philippines and Vietnam
renewed their “deep friendship” and cooperation by closely working with each
other in order to address the challenges that the two nations are both facing.
President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vietnamese
President Truong Tan Sang had a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting on Sunday
(Vladivostok time) at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russkiy Island.
“It was a renewal of the deep friendship between
our two countries and the common challenges that we face in terms of the
disputes in the West Philippine Sea,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del
Rosario, who was present during the bilateral meeting between the two
countries, told members of the Philippine media during an interview here.
Del Rosario noted that Vietnam has been a
partner of the Philippines in terms of cooperation.
“Vietnam has been a partner of the Philippines
in terms of a cooperation to see how we both can address the challenge and be
able to also work with other countries within ASEAN, and also our other
dialogue partners in terms of being able to move forward the objectives, which
we had closely defined as a peaceful resolution to the dispute in accordance
with international law,” he added.
Present during the bilateral meeting were
Secretary del Rosario, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Energy Secretary Rene
Almendras, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary
Arsenio Balisacan, and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Also present were were Presidential Protocol
Chief Ambassador Miguel Perez-Rubio, Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Alejandro
Mosquera and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario.
On the Vietnam side, those present included
Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Minh, Presidential Office Chairman Dao Viet
Trung, Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang, Planning and Investment Vice
Minister Dang Huy Dong, and Assistant to the President Nguyen Van Thao,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Vu Hong Nam. PND (co/3:39pm)
Aquino and 20 other leaders of APEC cite
importance of international trade to economic recovery job creation and
development
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: President Benigno S. Aquino
III and the 20 other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
cited the importance of international trade to economic recovery, job creation,
and development and the value and centrality of the multilateral system as
embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In the APEC Declaration issued on Sunday
(Vladivostok time) at the conclusion of the 20th APEC Leaders' Meeting at the
APEC Conference Center here, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
strengthen this system.
"In working towards the successful
multilateral conclusion of the Doha Development Round, we reaffirm the
instructions to our officials in Geneva to continue exploring different, fresh
and credible negotiating approaches while respecting the Doha mandate, the
principles of transparency, the importance of the multilateral trading system,
and development," the APEC leaders said.
The APEC leaders also remained firmly committed
to advancing the technical discussions actively taking place in Geneva on trade
facilitation and other development-related issues as mandated by the 8th WTO
Ministerial Conference.
They directed their respective Ministers to
continue to work to advance these objectives, and to comprehensively and
realistically review the progress achieved in the WTO by the next meeting of
APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade in 2013.
In view of the rise in protectionist trends and
continuing uncertainties in the global economy, the APEC leaders reaffirmed
their pledge to refrain through the end of 2015 from raising new barriers to
investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions,
or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures in all areas, including those that
stimulate exports.
"We reaffirm our commitment to rollback
protectionist measures and continue maximum restraint in implementing
WTO-consistent measures with a significant protectionist effect," the APEC
leaders said.
The APEC leaders said that while they recognized
the important role that the WTO plays in reducing protectionism they also
encouraged the WTO and other international organizations to "deepen their
monitoring of protectionist measures, consistent with their respective
mandates."
The APEC leaders likewise welcomed the ongoing
work to expand the product coverage and membership of the WTO Information
Technology Agreement and instructed their officials to work in earnest in order
to swiftly achieve a good outcome of the negotiations.
"We underline the importance of the
BogorGoals, and reaffirm our commitment to address issues that will help APEC
economies to achieve them," the APEC leaders said as they recognized that
Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) "is a major instrument to
further APEC's regional economic integration agenda."
Taking note of the various regional undertakings
that could be developed and built upon as a way towards an eventual Free Trade
Area of the Asia-Pacific, the APEC leaders directed the Ministers to continue
to facilitate APEC's role as "an incubator of a Free Trade Area of the
Asia-Pacific and to explore ways towards its realization by providing
leadership and intellectual input into the process of its development."
They also remained committed to addressing next
generation trade and investment issues as an important aspect of their work to
further integration of APEC economies and expansion of trade throughout the
region. PND (rsda/4:36pm)
Aquino and 20 member economies of APEC reaffirm
commitment to promote green growth and seek practical trade-enhancing solutions
in addressing environmental challenges
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: President Benigno S. Aquino
III and the 20 other member-economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) reaffirmed their commitment to promote green growth and to seeking
practical trade-enhancing solutions in order to address the global
environmental challenges.
"In 2012, we made considerable progress in
this regard. We welcome and endorse the APEC List of Environmental Goods that
directly and positively contribute to our green growth and sustainable
development objectives," the APEC leaders said in the APEC Declaration
issued on Sunday (Vladivostok time) at the conclusion of the 20th APEC Leaders'
Meeting at the APEC Conference Center here.
The APEC leaders also reaffirmed their
commitment to reduce their applied tariff rates to five percent or less on
these environment goods by the end of 2015, taking into account economies'
economic circumstances without prejudice to their positions in the World Trade
Organization.
"By reducing tariffs on environmental
goods, we will help our businesses and citizens to access important
environmental technologies, which will facilitate their deployment and use
contributing significantly to our green growth and trade liberalization
objectives," they stressed.
The APEC leaders noted that while supporting
sustainable growth, they agreed that promoting growth should not be used as an
excuse to introduce protectionist measures.
They also pledged their commitment to ensuring
that their actions to protect the environment are least trade restrictive and
consistent with their international trade obligations.
"We recognize that natural resources and
the ecosystems upon which they depend are important foundations for sustainable
economic growth," the APEC leaders said.
Concerned about escalating illicit trafficking
in endangered and protected wildlife, including marine resources, and
associated products which has economic, social, security, and environmental
consequences in their economies, the APEC leaders committed themselves to
strengthen their efforts to combat illegal trade in wildlife, timber, and
associated products to implement measures to ensure sustainable marine and
forest ecosystems management, and to facilitate sustainable, open, and fair
trade of non-timber forest products.
"We will take meaningful steps to promote
sustainable management and conservation of wildlife population while addressing
both the illegal supply and demand for endangered and protected wildlife
through capacity building cooperation, increased enforcement, and other mechanisms,"
they said. PND (rsda/5:24)
