BEIJING—A Philippine interagency task force has been meeting regularly for several months now to closely monitor the preparation and processing of the country’s flagship infrastructure projects that are being rolled out with funding support from China to swiftly address challenges and concerns in the implementation of such projects, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

During a high-level meeting here with Chinese officials led by Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on Thursday morning (Aug. 23), Dominguez said the China Projects Task Force, which was created in April this year, “has been effective in monitoring and facilitating the preparation and implementation” of projects proposed for China’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) financing.

Dominguez said the Philippines also welcomes the creation of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) as one of the reforms announced during China’s 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) last March 2018. “We look forward to working with them,” he said.

CIDCA, which is directly under China’s State Council, is the lead agency that provides government concessional loan financing.

Led by Dominguez, the other members of the Philippine delegation who were also at the meeting included Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade; and Vivencio Dizon, president-CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

Dominguez, on behalf of the Philippine government, also expressed his deep thanks and appreciation for China’s continuing support to the Philippines and said that he is looking forward to “greater cooperation and stronger engagement” between the two countries to ensure the timely implementation of the priority projects under the Duterte administration.

In response, Minister Zhong said China is willing to step up the exchange of information with the Philippines involving the projects being undertaken with Chinese funding support and meet more frequently with Philippine officials to speed up project implementation.

According to Minister Zhong, one way of enhancing cooperation between the two countries is to establish an industrial park in the Philippines with assistance from China, which is willing to share its experience and expertise on this aspect.

Minister Zhong underscored the strengthening relations between the Philippines and China under the leadership of President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping as he reiterated China’s commitment to further enhance bilateral ties between the two countries especially in the area of infrastructure cooperation.

He also said the Philippines’ plan to invest revenues from tax reform in the Philippines’ infrastructure modernization program was a “visionary move” on the part of President Duterte given that transport and infrastructure development was also a key factor in the rapid expansion of China’s economy.

On the Philippines’ participation in the China International Import Expo (CIIE), Minister Zhong assured the delegation that more space would be allocated for Philippine exhibitors as a demonstration of China’s commitment to “make new progress” in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

He pointed out that the CIIE demonstrates China’s firm support for trade liberalization and globalization.

Dominguez said the Philippine government “acknowledges the efforts of both sides to streamline and expedite the project approval and implementation process” for the projects being implemented by the Duterte administration in cooperation with China.

On the establishment of an industrial park in New Clark City in Pampanga, Dominguez said an agreement would soon be signed on this proposal to strengthen commercial ties between the two countries.

Dominguez also expressed the Philippines’ thanks and appreciation to China in welcoming more Philippine exhibitors to the CIIE, which he described as a “historic” event as China would be inviting companies from across the globe to sell their goods and services to Chinese consumers rather than the other way around.

During the meeting, the members of the Philippine delegation also gave updates on the progress of the projects that, will be and are being, implemented with Chinese financing support.

Dominguez also underscored the following during the meeting with Minister Zhong:

• A possible parallel financing arrangement between China and the World Bank for the rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plants of the National Power Corporation (Napocor), which Dominguez said is “a very important project” that the Philippines wants to fast-track. Zhong said the Ministry of Commerce is “supportive” of this proposal;

• The Philippines’ appreciation of the timely execution and quick approval of the first loan agreement for the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project as well as China’s swift response in assisting in the rehabilitation of the damaged city of Marawi, the quick ongoing construction of the drug rehabilitation facilities in Sarangani and Agusan del Sur in Mindanao, and the two 500-million renminbi grants for several projects;

• The Philippine government’s implementation of the first package of the Duterte administration’s tax reform program, which helped to substantially increase tax collections in the first seven months of 2018 by 18 percent over the same period last year. About 70 percent of the incremental revenues from this package will help implement the “Build, Build, Build” program that China is supporting with loans and grants;

• China’s rising investments in the Philippines, with net foreign direct investments (FDIs) for the period January-May 2018 registering a 534-percent increase over the net FDIs for the whole 2017. Total approved investments from China, meanwhile, grew by 57.14 percent over the previous year;

• Increasing bilateral trade with China since 2017, with total trade between the two countries reaching $13.9 B in the first half of 2018. “China is now actually the largest trading partner of the Philippines. We expect this growth trend to be sustained,” Dominguez said; and

• Growth in the number of Chinese tourists, which hit almost one million in 2017. The Philippines’ target for 2018 is to bring in 1.5 million tourists from China.

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