Dominguez touts benefits from PH-China ties

Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:21:34 +0000

Stronger ties between the Philippines and China will help the two countries weather global headwinds, the Finance chief said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd, in a keynote speech during Wednesday’s Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in Beijing, noted that both countries were leading Asia in terms of growth.

“With our increased cooperation, we can better defy the adverse developments at the global level and continue our rapid expansion to benefit our peoples,” he said.

Dominguez also said that China was gearing up to meet forecasts of slower global growth via a policy mix that included boosting domestic consumer demand and expansionary monetary policy.

“The rest of the region depends much on China’s impressive growth. We are confident this great nation will continue its remarkable economic transformation,” he added.
Like China, the Philippines is well positioned to sustain its economic expansion, the Finance secretary said.

“Despite the adverse trends in the global economy, we are confident our internal growth engines will continue driving the economy to support a GDP (gross domestic product) expansion of 7 percent — this is our fighting target,” he added.

Dominguez also claimed that the Duterte government’s “Build Build Build” infrastructure program was working in concert with China’s much larger and broader Belt and Road initiative.

“Improved interconnections between the economies in this part of the world will raise all ships. We look forward to a seamless network for the flow of goods, the exchange of best practices and boundless cooperation in the coming years,” he said.

Trade and tourism between the Philippines and China “has grown at a breathtaking pace,” Dominguez continued, noting 13-percent growth in total trade last year and a 27-percent expansion in tourist arrivals in 2017.

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