Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

June 20, 1996

2.The Philippine Delegation was led by H.E. Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani and co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Edsel T. Custodio, Assistant Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry. The Romanian Delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Ion Pargaru, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce.

3.The members of the Philippine and the Romanian Delegations are listed in the Annexes 1 and 2.

4.The Agenda adopted by the Joint Economic Commission is presented in Annex 3.

5.The Seventh Session of the Joint Economic Commission was held in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and cordiality, reflecting the friendly relationship between the two countries.
Review of Economic Situation in the Two Countries

6.The leaders of the two delegations gave a briefing on the economic and trade performances of their respective countries. It was agreed that the bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries be further developed and strengthened.

7.In his welcome address, the leader of the Romanian Delegation pointed out that the Romanian economy had shown good signs- of economic growth in 1994 and 1995, based upon increase in the industrial output and agriculture, the growth in the volume of foreign trade, the decrease in the inflation rate and other factors. In 1996 and in the following years, there are good prospects for further growth, particularly in view of the positive world environment. The good economic results indicated the steps taken by the Government in the economic reforms in this transition period. In this context, he pointed out the complementarity between the two economies and expressed the keen desire of the Romanian Side for developing trade and cooperation with the Republic of the Philippines.

8.The leader of the Philippine Delegation outlined the similarities of the economic experiences of the two countries. He informed that since 1994, the Philippines has undertaken a wide range of structural and policy reforms which liberalized and opened its economy to the competitive global environment in trade, investments and services. Since then the Philippine economy has shown rapid growth in a stable and sustainable basis. While liberalization provide the most important stimulus to this growth, the attainment of political stability under the leadership of President Fidel V. Ramos, has generated the external support and confidence which is vital in strengthening the growth base of the economy.

Review of Bilateral Trade Exchanges,
Including Review of the Previous
Joint Economic Commission Meetings

9.Both Delegations noted the rapid economic changes in the two countries as well as in the world economy.

Both Delegations agreed that the sweeping tide of globalization and liberalization require a re-orientation of the work of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC). The JEC shall serve as the bilateral platform for monitoring changes and exchanging information on policy environment, structural changes and administrative measures favourable to the private sector and thus serve as catalyst in promoting trade and cooperation between the business communities of both countries.

10.Both Delegations agreed that the Romania-Philippine Business Councils, which were set-up in 1994 and 1995 shall convene periodic sectoral meetings to bring together the business elements from both countries for the purpose of identifying and implementing practical and concrete projects and specific business transactions.

11.Both Sides reviewed the trade between Romania and the Republic of the Philippines since the Sixth Session of the Joint Economic Commission. It was noted that the level did not reflect the economic potentials and complementaries of the two countries.
Economic Cooperation

12.Both Sides expressed interest in the promotion and in establishing cooperation, in the field of power generation such as clean coal technology, petroleum engineering, reservoirs engineering, and natural gas. The Philippine Side suggested that prior to any action on these areas, exchange of missions be conducted to explore the possibilities and potentials of these activities.

13.Both Sides expressed their interest to seek avenues for cooperation in the development of high voltage transmission lines in the main island of Luzon, the Philippines. The Philippine Side however stressed that interested Romanian businessmen should participate in the bidding process for these projects since it is the policy of the Philippine Government to award such projects to companies that can provide appropriate technology at competitive prices.

14.The Philippine Side expressed interest in the exchange of information on mineral resources research and development and exchange of trainees and specialists in the fields of mining and geology. Both Sides agreed to disseminate information to their respective private sectors on mineral products which have commercial viability and trade possibilities, including barter and swaps schemes for both countries. Both Sides also agreed that there are possibilities for collaboration in ore processing technologies, geology and ironing of gold, silver, copper, nickel, chromite and bauxite.

15.Both Sides identified, some potential projects that could be discussed within the framework of the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding on Science and Technology such as: glass manufacturing, production of sodium silicate and other areas of interested to both countries, which could be identified later.

16.The Romanian Side invited Philippine investors to take advantage of the facilities and incentives provided by the Romanian Foreign Investment Law and to consider investment in sectors of mutual interest. A list of available projects was handed over to the Philippine Delegation.

The Philippine Side gave a briefing on the investment opportunity areas specifically on infrastructure, using the Philippine Build-Operate-Transfer , (BOT) Law as well as on the mining and oil industry sectors.

The Philippine Side expressed interest in providing training and briefings on the Philippine successful experience hi implementing its BOT Law to include the exploration of financing facilities and guarantees in these regard.

17.The Philippine Side invited the Romanian Side to explore the possibilities for cooperation in the areas of food and agriculture, such as sunflower seed oil processing and others. The Romanian Side appreciated the invitation and acknowledged that such cooperation would be beneficial for both Sides.

18.Both delegations emphasized the important role played by the banking sector in facilitating trade between the two countries.

19.In order to promote bilateral trade and cooperation, both Sides shall encourage participation in international trade fairs organized in the two countries. In this respect, the Romanian Side invited Philippine businessmen to participate in the Bucharest International Trade Fair (TIB) held annually in October, and in the International Trade Fair for Consumer Goods held annually in June (TIBCO). The Philippine Side also invited Romanian businessmen to participate in the Asia Pacific Trade Fair (ASPAT), which will be held in Manila in November 1996, as well as hi other international trade fairs and exhibitions that will be held in the Philippines.

20.Both Sides agreed to encourage businessmen to conduct studies and market surveys to identify specific areas of trade and cooperation so as to further promote better coordination between private sectors.
Other Matters

21.The Romanian Side presented details regarding its association to the European Union and invited the Philippine business community to take advantage of this association.

The Philippine Side also briefed the Romanian Side of the developments in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) arid invited the Romanian Side to take advantage of the Philippine participation to these regional groupings.

22.It was agreed that the 8th Session of the Joint Economic Commission will be held in Manila, at a date to be mutually agreed upon by both Governments.

Done and signed in Bucharest on 20 June, 1996, in two originals in the English language, both texts being equally authentic.