RP gets $1.1b loan from Japan

RP gets $1.1b loan from Japan

TOKYO (AFP): Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and
Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono exchanged notes yesterday
for a 100.9-billion-yen (US$1.1 billion) loan package, both
governments said.

The amount -- the 20th yen-loan package to the Philippines --
covers 14 official development assistance projects in
infrastructure, power, maritime safety, aviation, and
environment, the Japanese government said in a statement.

Siazon left on Monday for Japan with Trade and Industry
Secretary Rizalino Navarro on a mission aimed at encouraging more
trade and investment in the country, the Philippine Foreign
Department said.

The trip "will promote closer bilateral ties between Japan and
the Philippines in economic cooperation, as well as in trade and
investment," the statement said.

"Japan will remain the top donor to this country, pledging to
provide continuous assistance to the Philippine government's
efforts to attain sustainable economic development," the Japanese
embassy in Manila added in a statement.

Japan is also the Philippines' second largest export market.

The borrowing will also enjoy a reduction in interest rates,
from three percent to 2.7 percent, compared with the 19th loan
package, the statement added.

The Philippine team will meet with Japanese government and
business leaders during the five-day visit.

Siazon and Kono also agreed yesterday to work closely on the
upcoming meeting in Osaka this November of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Japanese officials said.

They agreed that Japan, which chairs this year's APEC, and the
next chair, the Philippines, should cooperate in drawing up an
action plan to liberalize trade and investment in the Asia-
Pacific region, the officials said.

Siazon and Kono also agreed yesterday that the issue of
nuclear testing by China and France should be taken up at an
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional forum
meeting next month.

"I would like to hear other foreign ministers' opinions" on
the issue, Kono was quoted by a Japanese foreign ministry
official as telling Siazon.

Siazon, in reply, said the nuclear tests were unacceptable.

The ASEAN regional forum meeting is to be attended by the six
ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand -- as well as Australia, Cambodia, Canada,
China, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South
Korea, the United States and Vietnam.