Arroyo continues her travels, leaves for China

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her official delegation left for China shortly before dawn Tuesday in a bid to drum up more investments amid the controversy surrounding the $329.4-million contract with ZTE Corp. Radio dzBB reported that Mrs Arroyo boarded a chartered Philippine Airlines PR-001 flight for Shanghai and left at about 5:50 a.m. Her departure came less than two days after her arrival from the United Nations. The report said she did not deliver a departure statement. It described President Arroyo, who wore a black outfit, as relaxed and smiling to well-wishers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr, and Deputy Director Gen. Avelino Razon Jr, new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief were among the officials who saw her off. Last Monday, Mrs Arroyo met behind closed doors with new Chinese ambassador Song Tao when he presented his credentials to her in Malacañang. Malacañang has tried to downplay the effect of the controversy with ZTE Corp. of China, claiming the deal is no big deal to the neighboring Asian country. A Palace statement Monday quoted Rowena Sanchez, Philippine consul general to China, as saying that Chinese newspapers "didn't even bother to carry the story." Sanchez said the issue was not raised during business conferences in Shanghai, which the Palace statement dubbed as the "engine of growth of the whole of China." "China is still upbeat about investing in the Philippines," Sanchez said in an interview this morning at the Eton Hotel in Shanghai. Sanchez said Beijing respects the decision of the Philippines on the ZTE issue and is not concerned at all by the controversy over the national broadband network (NBN) project contract eventually bagged by the Chinese firm. "It is still a policy of the Chinese government to encourage businessmen to invest in the Philippines," she said. Sanchez added that Chinese businessmen are pushing through with their investments in the Philippines, and that Mrs Arroyo's visit as keynote speaker of the Philippine Business and Investment Forum (PBIF) is a "welcome opportunity" to further entice more Chinese investments to the Philippines. The participants in the forum, Sanchez said, swelled to 300 from the initial 100 chief executive officers (CEOs) of top Chinese corporations. Sanchez said Chinese businessmen have expressed interest in investing outsourcing because they know that the Philippines is one of the leaders in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. President Arroyo is due to travel to Shanghai on Tuesday to generate more investments in the Philippines. Sanchez said Chinese investors are also keen on mining, transportation and tourism as well as agricultural particularly Philippine bananas. The Philippines and China equally benefit from a two-way trade valued last year at over $1 billion, she said. - GMANews.TV