Maximizing on their country’s rising economic importance,
presidents of the Philippines and Indonesia on Monday vowed to further enhance
their trading and investment pact.
In his speech after the meeting with Indonesian President
Joko Widodo, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said they discussed ways
on how to increase trading between the two countries.
“The opportunities are certainly there, especially given
that Indonesia and the Philippines are two of the fastest growing economies in
the region,” he said.
Widodo, in his speech, said he is grateful of his country’s
trade partnership with the Philippines.
”… with respect to the economic field and cooperation, I
would like to increase our trade volume, to double the trade volume by 2016,”
he said.
”And also I wish to invite investors in the Philippines to
Indonesia in the maritime sector and fisheries sector,” he added.
Aside from being among the top performers in the region in
terms of domestic output, both countries currently enjoy investment grade
ratings from major debt watchers.
In 2014, the
Philippines ended as Asia’s second best-performing economy after China after
churning in a 6.1 percent growth.
It was slower than
programmed on account of the impact of congestion in Manila ports in most of
the year after the Manila City government implemented an expanded truck ban
from February to September last year.
The truck ban affected domestic supply conditions, which
also resulted to spike in inflation rates.
However, coordination among the local and national
government as well as the private sector addressed the issue enabling the
domestic economy to recover in the last quarter of the year.
Relatively, Indonesia, a member of the G20, grew at its
slowest in five years as of end-September 2014 after posting a five percent growth.
Full-year output is seen at about five percent.
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