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.