PGMA's Speech during the Official Banquet in Honor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Madame Akie Abe of Japan

PGMA's Speech during the Official Banquet in Honor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Madame Akie Abe of Japan

Rizal Hall, Malacañang, 09 Dec 2006

His Excellency Prime Minister Abe and Madame Abe; officials of the Philippine government; members of the Japanese delegation; members of the diplomatic corps; guests; ladies and gentlemen:

In behalf of the Filipino people, in behalf of our government, I congratulate and welcome the new Prime Minister of Japan, His Excellency Prime Minister Abe and his lovely wife Madame Abe.

His Excellency's visits celebrates a very important jubilee -- the 50th anniversary of the normalization of our diplomatic relations. But although our present diplomatic relations are only 50 years old, even before the Spaniards came, trade between Filipinos and Japanese was regular and robust. And today, 50 years after the normalization of our diplomatic relations, our trade, our investment relations, our economic relations are stronger than ever. Today, Japan is by far our biggest source of official development assistance and our second largest trading partner. Japanese companies are at the vanguard of Philippine industrial growth particularly in electronics and automobiles.

The Philippines continues to be one of the favored destinations of Japanese tourists. Filipino seafarers man Japanese ships and Filipino caregivers will soon be taking care of Japan's aging population under the historic Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.

This morning, we were able to sign the exchange of notes on the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project. This is the only latest of many Japanese assistance agreements which cuts across all sectors from giant projects like the Agno river project to grassroots projects in Muslim communities of Mindanao.

Now, we welcome Japan's new initiatives in economic cooperation such as energy efficiency and capability building in disaster management. In addition to economic assistance, in addition to trade and investment, in addition to tourism, security is coming into sharper focus in our bilateral relations.

We welcome an important role from Japan in the fight against terrorism in our region. And we support Japan's leadership on the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718 on the North Korean issue, these matters or some of the agenda for the forthcoming summit in Cebu which is supposed to start tomorrow but which we have postponed.

As chair of the ASEAN, the Philippines is responsible for the safety and well- being of summit participants in the face of inclement weather. Our responsibility to the Filipino people also lies in preparing to the best we can for the onslaught of another typhoon. This is a two-way process, we are concerned for the leaders and they are concerned for our people. Truly in the spirit of one caring and sharing community.

I thank Prime Minister Abe and the other leaders for their understanding and support. At the same time the Philippines gives its firm assurances that there has been no setback in the progress of the ASEAN agenda and process. The ministerial meetings pushed through to sharpen the declarations and agreements that will be approved by the summit in January of 2007.

All the leaders are geared up to speed up regional economic integration and to forge a strong stance for regional peace and security backed by detailed road maps and action plans. There is a consensus to postpone the meeting because of the typhoon but a strong impetus to return to the summit at the soonest possible time. The aspirations of more than three billion people in East Asia -- one-half of the world -- cannot be put on hold.

I thank all our people and all those from ASEAN and Japan and our other dialogue partners who worked hard on the summit preparations. Let us continue to work together for the January meeting under clearer skies.

On this note, I invite Your Excellency and Madame Abe, distinguished members of the diplomatic corps, friends, ladies and gentlemen, to join me in a toast to the continued good health of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, to the continued peace and prosperity of Japan, and to the enduring friendship between the Filipino and Japanese peoples.

Mabuhay!

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