HAINAN, CHINA—Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan forged here last Tuesday an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters that aims to modernize the Philippines’ hybrid rice center, and in turn, boost the country’s palay production through a 27.52 million renminbi grant from China.
The agreement, to be implemented by the Department of Agriculture, covers Phase III of the Technical Cooperation Project for the Philippines’ Agricultural Technology Center.
According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the RMB27.52 million grant (approximately P226.93 million or $4.36 million) aims “to contribute in boosting the rice production capacity of the Philippines towards rice sufficiency by upgrading the Philippine Sino Center for Agricultural Technology’s (PhilSCAT) hybrid rice technology research and demonstration center into a Modern Hybrid Rice Breeding Station and Technology Demonstration Center.”
This agreement is one of the three accords with China signed by Dominguez on behalf of the Philippine government during the recent visit of President Duterte here to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia in this Chinese province.
The Philippines and China signed a total of six new agreements on the sidelines of the annual forum held at the coastal town of Boao.
Besides this agreement, Dominguez also signed the US$62 million Preferential Buyer’s Credit Loan Agreement on the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jinhua and an Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation with China Commerce Minister Zhong Shan involving a separate $79 million grant for at least four other projects undertaken by the Philippine government in cooperation with China.
The DOF said the dollar-denominated (about P3.135 billion) loan agreement on the Chico river irrigation project, which will be implemented by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), covers 85 percent of the total project cost estimated at $83.89 million (approximately P4.372 billion).
The interest rate on the loan is 2 percent per annum with a maturity period of 20 years, inclusive of a seven-year grace period, the DOF said.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority, the irrigation project will provide a stable supply of water to around 8,700 hectares of agricultural land, benefit 4,350 farmers and their families, and serve 21 barangays in the provinces of Cagayan and Kalinga in Northern Luzon.
Meanwhile, the agreement on economic and technical cooperation involves a 500 million renminbi grant (approximately $79 million or P4.13 billion) to finance the following: 1) the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella Pantaleon bridges in Metro Manila (RMB 264.8 million, partial funding); 2) the feasibility study for the Davao City Expressway Project (RMB25.83 million); 3) the provision of radio and broadcasting equipment to the Presidential Communications Operations Office (RMB17.82 million), and 4) the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology-Technical Cooperation Program Phase III (RMB 27.52 million). The total grant for these four projects amounts to RMB335.97 million.
The remaining amount of RMB164.03 million under the RMB500 million grant will be used to finance other projects, the DOF said.
On top of these three agreements signed by Dominguez, the Philippines and China also inked three other accords, namely, 1) the Exchange of Letters on the Pre-Feasibility Study for the Davao City Expressway between Publics Works Secretary Mark Villar and Zhong; 2) Exchange of Letters on Providing a Batch of Broadcasting Equipment to the Presidential Communications Operations Office between PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar and Zhong; and 3) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Employment of Filipino Teachers of English Language in China between Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Zhao.
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