PGMA's Speech during the State Dinner in Honor of President and Mrs. Roh Moo-Hyun of the Republic of Korea |
Rizal Hall, Malacaņang (December 15, 2005) |
| His Excellency the President of
the Republic of Korea and Madame Roh Moo-Hyun; Vice President de Castro; Former President
Ramos; Speaker de Venecia and Mrs. De Venecia; excellencies of the diplomatic corps; our
respective foreign ministers and Cabinet members and their ladies; members of the Korean
business delegation; members of the Philippine business community; officials of the
Philippine government; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen: The Republic of Korea and the Philippines have been special friends for the last 55 years. Ever since the Philippines send 7,000 of its young soldiers including a young officer named Fidel Ramos to help defend the Republic of Korea against North Korea's invasion. Since that time the Philippines and the Republic of Korea have been the best of friends. Today, there are many Korean students studying in the Philippines. And some of them will be with us in the inauguration of the Korea-Philippines training center tomorrow. There are also many Korean tourists very visible in the Philippines. Half a million of them visited the Philippines this year and we invite more of them to come. Tonight, we have many Korean business executives among our guests. And I wish to renew the call for them to invest some more in the Philippines and to trade some more with the Philippine private sector. We commit to make it easier for Korean investors by setting up a 'one-stop shop' for investors to be located in the board of investments. Korean business is in the Philippines in automotives, in infrastructure, in electronics and especially investing very heavily in electronic power plants in the Philippines and contributing to the electrification of our countryside, and we are grateful. This morning, President Roh in our bilateral summit announced that his new official development assistance program will give preferential treatment and attention to ASEAN and particularly the Philippines. We are grateful for this and because of this we should be able to work more effectively especially to secure energy resources for our two countries and our region. Indeed, we are close friends and steadfast allies whether it comes to economic or security concerns. And therefore I would like to end by expressing once again our best wishes for a peaceful solution to the situation in the Korean peninsula. Excellencies and guests, I ask all of you to join me in a toast for the continued good health of their excellencies President and Madame Roh. |