Chancellor Kohl arrives in Manila

Chancellor Kohl arrives in Manila

MANILA (Reuter): Chancellor Helmut Kohl began a three-day visit to the Philippines yesterday that is expected to be crowned by almost $1 billion in business deals.

The first German head of government to visit the Philippines arrived from Indonesia and headed straight to a park where he laid flowers at a monument to Filipino hero Jose Rizal.

From the park, he proceeded to the Malacanang presidential palace for one-on-one talks with President Fidel Ramos.

After their talks, the two leaders were to witness the signing by German and Filipino businessmen of agreements on energy, telecommunications and port construction worth $949 million. Kohl is accompanied by a 130-member delegation that includes 30 top German businessmen.

"This visit brings economic cooperation between the two countries to a new plateau," European Chamber of Commerce vice president Henry Schumacher said.