GMA in Brunei for stronger trade, defense ties

BANDAR SERI BEGA-WAN (via PLDT) – President Arroyo flew here yesterday to lure investors and boost bilateral trade.

Before leaving Manila, Mrs. Arroyo told reporters she would hold talks with Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to seek his leading role in reviving a plan to integrate the economies of the contiguous areas of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes signed an agreement here yesterday on defense cooperation with Bolkiah, who is also the sultanate’s defense minister.

The agreement calls for the training of military personnel and war games between the armed forces of the two countries.

An agreement on maritime cooperation, under which Brunei would recognize the competence of Filipino seafarers and allow them to work in Brunei, is to be signed today.

Mrs. Arroyo said the theme of her three-day Brunei visit was "Brunei’s leadership in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area- (BIMP-EAGA)."

Joint efforts to boost the BIMP-EAGA were hampered by economic problems in the region following the Asian financial crisis, which started in 1997.

Mrs. Arroyo is also due to visit port facilities and petroleum fields in Brunei, a key oil producer and the world’s fourth-largest producer of liquefied petroleum gas.

In Brunei, the Sultan conferred on Mrs. Arroyo the Most Esteemed Laila Utana (DK), traditionally given to visiting heads of state.

She is the third Philippine president to be bestowed the honor after Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, who had also visited Bandar Seri Begawan.

Mrs. Arroyo was chauffeur-driven from Brunei International Airport to the Istana (Palace) Nurul Imam on streets lined with Brunei and Filipino school children, accompanied by their Filipino teachers, who were waving tiny Philippine flags.

Sultan Bolkiah, along with his two wives, welcomed Mrs. Arroyo, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, and the official Philippine delegation to the Istana.

With the Golden Mosque in the background, the President and Sultan Bolkiah trooped the line as the Royal Brunei honor guards stood at attention and cannons fired a 21-gun salute.

Mrs. Arroyo arrived at 10:40 a.m. in the oil-rich sultanate for a three-day visit, bringing plans for increased cooperation in defense and maritime transport.

Leading a delegation of government officials and businessmen, she was received by members of the royal family and inspected an honor guard before meeting with Sultan Bolkiah.

Mrs. Arroyo was also greeted by a 400-strong group of Filipinos, who waved the country’s flag. About 20,000 Filipinos live in this country of 330,000.

Reyes said Brunei was the fifth member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to have a defense agreement with the Philippines.

The agreement also covers exchanges of defense personnel, information on security and defense issues, technical information on defense products, research and development of defense products, and exchange of visits of defense officials and personnel, he added.

Reyes said implementation of the agreement will be monitored by a joint committee to be co-chaired by Philippine and Brunei defense officials.

The committee shall meet alternately once a year in the Philippines and Brunei, he added.

"We had no formal defense cooperation agreement (with Brunei) before this," Reyes told reporters yesterday.

However, Reyes said the Philippines has a defense attaché assigned at the Philippine Embassy in Brunei in the person of Air Force Col. Christopher Rodriguez.

"We have had a defense attaché here since 1990," he said. "But up to now, Brunei has to set up their own defense attaché post in the Philippines."

Mrs. Arroyo is expected to attend a business lunch and visit the Brunei Museum before flying tomorrow to Singapore for a three-day visit.

Members of Mrs. Arroyo’s official delegation are Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas; Secretary Michael Defensor, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar Jr.; and Leyte Rep. Ted Failon.

In a statement, Villar said he is confident Mrs. Arroyo’s twin visits "will result in concrete gains for the country" as he cited the significance of building strong relations and building regional alliances with the Philippines’ neighbors.

In Singapore, Mrs. Arroyo is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and speak at an investment forum where she is expected to invite business leaders to pump more investment into the Philippines.

Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippines will enter into a tourism twinning agreement with Singapore in which the city state would help promote tourism to the country, not only among Singaporeans but also among other nationalities.

In turn, the Philippines would also encourage tourists visiting the country to go to Singapore, she added. — With Paolo Romeo, AP, AFP