Your Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am pleased to welcome you and your high-powered delegation to Singapore. The Philippines and Singapore are old friends, and members of the ASEAN family. Ours is a warm partnership with many shared interests.

Your Excellency

When you last visited Singapore in October 1999, Southeast Asia was just recovering from the Asian financial crisis. Countries in the region were turning the corner and optimism was high.

Today, however, the sky has become cloudy again. The external environment has turned unfavourable. The global economy is slowing down, including our traditional engines of growth such as the US and Japan. The only country in East Asia that remains buoyant is China. But her rapid growth is itself a huge challenge for Southeast Asia.

There is no reason to wring our hands in despair. Instead, we should see the changed environment as a challenge for ASEAN to revitalise itself. We will have to adjust to the realities of China and the fundamental changes in the global economic environment.

Furthermore, our region, with its 500 million population, has good growth potential. ASEAN had grown fast in the '80s and early '90s. We worked hard and created the conditions for investments to thrive.

Now, if we can build on these strengths and rally together to reinvigorate ASEAN, I am confident that the region will regain its attractiveness and prestige.

I believe that the best way to do this is for us to press ahead with regional cooperation and integration. While doing so, however, we must also look outward and forge closer links with other economies. Our past growth and prosperity have been built on the basis of free and open trade with the world. We must maintain this openness for our economies to grow again.

I would also like to expand bilateral co-operation. At our last meeting, we discussed two specific areas - IT and the Bayanihan Centre in Singapore. I am pleased to note the progress in both areas. We have just signed several MOUs to advance bilateral co-operation in the IT sector. And tomorrow, you will inaugurate the Bayanihan Centre. This facility will be a focal point for members of the Filipino community in Singapore to upgrade their skills.

There has also been good progress in bilateral projects in the Philippines. The Carmelray Industrial Park II is in operation. Singapore companies are now among the top four foreign investors in designated areas under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. I have also been told that a Singapore company is looking at plans to establish an IT park in Subic Bay.

Education and human resource development is another field of co-operation where there has been good progress. In the New Economy, education and training are key drivers of economic growth. It is, therefore, an area in which Singapore is most keen to work with our friends, as it brings significant long-term benefits to all parties. In this regard, Singapore welcomes your students to study in our schools and institutions of higher learning, and your officials to participate in training courses in Singapore. Such programmes will also deepen the friendship between our two peoples.

Your Excellency

In the short time that you have been in office, you have shown determination, resolve and clarity of purpose in tackling the many challenges facing the Philippines. You have been active in the fight against corruption and the reduction of red tape and inefficiency in the bureaucracy. You have also been at the forefront of efforts to liberalise the economy and attract foreign investments. With your steady hand at the helm, and your can-do spirit, I fully expect the Philippines to gain steam ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen

Please join me now in a toast:

to the good health of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo;

to the success of her government; and,

to the friendship between Singapore and the Philippines.

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