Global financial crisis, trade top RP-Australia meeting

Nov	23
2008

Global financial crisis, trade top RP-Australia meeting

Agence France-Presse | 10/09/2008 12:56 PM

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The global financial crisis, trade and security will top the agenda when ministers from Australia and the Philippines meet for two days of talks on Thursday.

In the second Philippine Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) trade and foreign ministers from both countries will examine ways to improve bilateral relations.

A number of business leaders, particularly from the mining sector, are accompanying the Australian delegation, which is led by Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Trade Minister Simon Crean.

Smith, in an opinion page article in the Philippine Star, said Australia and the Philippines already cooperate on "a broad range of issues" including counter-terrorism, security, defense, trade and investment.

Australia is the Philippines' second largest defense cooperation partner behind the United States.

Two way trade between the countries last year totaled 2.5 billion US dollars while Australian investment in the Philippines has increased from more than 890 US million dollars in 2001 to over 1.5 billion in 2007, most of which was in mining.

Crean told a breakfast meeting of businessmen Thursday that while two way trade had grown by 17 percent over the past decade it had expanded 130 percent with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which the Philippines is a member.

"I think this has been a decade of lost opportunities as far as our relations go with the Philippines," he told the meeting.

"Our commercial links are growing and we can build on these links," Crean said.

"There are so many areas we can start looking at such as food and agriculture, services and education," he added.

He said Australia and the Philippines worked closely together in helping to conclude the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement "which has the potential to deliver significant commercial gains to both countries and more broadly throughout the region."

as of 10/09/2008 1:25 PM