Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the Filipino-Chinese Businessmen’s luncheon sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

[Delivered in Guangzhou, China, April 29, 1993]

Building on a
historic friendship

THANK YOU for this excellent opportunity for our entrepreneurs to meet, and thank you for that sumptuous luncheon. I think I understand now why frequent travelers to China often tell new visitors to “sightsee in Beijing, shop in Shanghai, but dine in Guangzhou.”

This is not, of course, the first time that a leader from my country—indeed, from my part of the Philippines—has come to China. Historians record that early in the fifteenth century, envoys from what was known to Chinese geographers as P’ing-chia-shih-lan—my home province of Pangasinan—visited China many times.

Partnership of the past

Philippine contact with China goes back even earlier, to at least the tenth century. When the Spanish explorer Legazpi landed in Manila in 1571, he encountered a colony of more than a hundred Chinese residents engaged in mercantile activities.

We can look today with pride and a deep sense of gratification to that history of Filipino-Chinese friendship and cooperation. In the Philippines, the Filipino-Chinese community continues to be a major contributor to our economic health and to the richness of our culture.

We hope to reciprocate by introducing you to the best of has to offer.

I come to China in the same spirit shown by your forebears who visited Philippine shores hundreds of years ago. This time, however, we have come not only to exchange goods with you but also to learn and benefit from your experience as we work to improve our infrastructure, to develop our natural and human resources and to expand mutual economic and investment opportunities.

We are elated at China’s success in harnessing its productive forces. It has contributed not only to the flowering of increased regional economic cooperation in East Asia but also—and, more important—to regional peace and stability. The economic reforms adopted by the Chinese government and the industry of the Chinese people, combined with the similar efforts of East Asian nations, have boosted the region’s already robust economy.

From peace to prosperity

We share that vision and purpose. We, too, want peace and prosperity for our people. We have much to learn from your splendid example. I firmly believe that, with your help, we can perform as capably, to our mutual benefit as close neighbors and blood brothers in Asia.

Last June 30, 1992, I assumed the Presidency of the Republic of the Philippines to fulfill my people’s mandate to achieve a better quality of life for Filipinos. I took my oath in the sobering awareness that much remained to be done—that democracy without material growth and equitable distribution of benefits would be meaningless and short-lived; that prosperity would proceed only when we had secured our political stability and social cohesion.

Today, we have more than survived. We have recovered our health and confidence, and—most important—we have strengthened our stability and cohesion as a national society.

Certainly, we have many problems that remain to be addressed. But with right attitudes and right policies, many of these are actually opportunities for growth.

We invite the Chinese people and government to maintain and reinforce our partnership of the past, and to maximize the opportunities of the present to strengthen the good will, the talents and the resources existing between us. I assure you that it will be well worth your time, your investment and your faith iii our capabilities.

Expanding offshore

You may find that we are driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit that this vibrant city of Guangzhou exemplifies so well. The modern infrastructure and the bustle of business are unmistakable signs of progress. The 18.7 percent growth rate of your gross domestic product last year is the envy of even First World economies. The drive of your people to succeed in business propels the economy of Guangdong Province to unprecedented prosperity.

Your government’s policy of opening up to the outside world is the basic economic reform that is being set hi place, by granting Chinese enterprises autonomy—including the choice to enter into different forms of international economic cooperation.

May I suggest that equally important is expanding your operations to other countries.

There are several benefits to be gained by moving offshore to neighboring countries such as the Philippines.

First, your enterprise will gain a wider market for your products. This exposure to a new environment will enable you to adapt your products more easily to the needs of that market.

Second, opportunities to share in the growth of science and technology of the host country will be open to you.

Third, your enterprise can avail itself of the trade arrangements of the host country with other territories, such as the general system of preferences extended to developing countries or the free-trade arrangements among neighboring countries.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has agreed to reduce its tariff on products coming from the member-countries in the next 15 years. Thus, expanding your operations in any of the ASEAN countries will mean an additional market of more than 350 million people.

Lastly, your enterprise can avail itself of the benefits accorded to foreign investors by the host country through preferential investment policies.

As your closest neighbor to the south, the Philippines offers these advantages to your enterprise.

On the road to progress

While the growth of the Philippine economy may not have been as remarkable as yours, we are well on our way to some real and lasting progress. This has been made possible by a strategic redirection in our economic and foreign policies—to open up the Philippines for greater economic cooperation and development. We have come to realize, as you have, that cooperativism and private entrepreneurship are crucial to achieve competitiveness for our agriculture and our industries, locally and globally.

Thus we are doing all we can, within the bounds of prudence, to liberalize, deregulate, democratize and privatize key sectors of our economy.

We have liberalized our foreign-exchange regulations and the rules governing foreign investments, ending four decades of tight foreign-exchange controls.

We are bringing down interest rates further by opening the banking system to more competition, including the entry of foreign banks in areas previously closed to them.

We have liberalized the rules on investment in terms of taxes, procedures and debt-equity requirements. We intend to strengthen the security of tenure of foreign investors over the site of their factories and to liberalize nationality requirements for investments.

We have embarked on a massive infrastructure program in power, highways, seaports, airports and telecommunications, with the significant participation of the private sector, domestic and foreign, through build-operate-transfer and similar programs. The temporary shortage of power in our islands, for example, is being steadily relieved with the help of private investors.

And all over the country, we have identified and opened the most suitable areas to receive foreign investments and enterprises. These include the vast and excellently developed Subic Bay area, recently vacated by the United States Navy and now a prime entrepreneurial location; the CALABARZON region just south of Manila; and the great island of Mindanao, rich in natural resources and a strategic transshipment point.

All these give us much reason for hope in the next seven years. We are confident of achieving an average growth rate in our gross domestic product of six to eight percent, which should raise our per-capita income from US$800 in 1992 to US$1,000 in 1998. This is our vision called “Philippines 2000.”

The Asia-Pacific century

My friends: we stand on the threshold of a new and exciting century that has already been called, by impartial observers, “the Asia-Pacific century.” Here in our region the most dynamic growth is taking place. Here the most profound social transformations are bound to happen.

What will remain unchanged are our centuries of cultural and economic interactions based on a common culture of understanding and cooperation that cannot be found in any other part of the world.

In terms of Philippine-Chinese friendship of almost a thousand years, your continuing participation in our economic growth will always be appreciated.

I close with a rousing shout of mabuhay to our Chinese friends. Mabuhay means many things in the Philippines. We say mabuhay to our friends, for it means hello, it means goodbye; it means welcome, it means till we meet again. We say mabuhay to our heroes, for mabuhay means victory, bravo, well done! Mabuhay also means the food was delicious; let us compliment the host. But mabuhay sincerely means a long life and good health to you—not just a long life of many years, but a good, useful and prosperous life accompanied by continued success and enduring happiness.