Philippines Australia Ministerial Meeting Business Luncheon
9 October 2008, Manila
Thank you for that warm welcome.
My thanks also to the Philippines-Australia Business Council and the Australia-Philippines Business Council for hosting this lunch.
This is my first trip to Manila.
It’s also the first opportunity Trade Minister Crean and I have had to have an extensive discussion with our Philippinescounterparts about the many factors that bind us together as regional friends and neighbours.
We did that this morning in the biennial Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM), which brings together the trade and foreign ministers of our two countries.
We discussed the idea of in future broadening the meeting to also include our respective defence ministers.
It’s clear from the discussion we’ve had today that we have an opportunity to take this relationship to a new level.
Natural Partners
We have a great deal to build on.
This year marks 62 years since Australia established diplomatic relations with the Philippines, shortly after the end of World War II.
It was during that grim time that General Macarthur launched from Australia his successful bid to return to the Philippines.
Some 4,000 Australian sailors participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, the largest naval battle in history. During that battle, HMAS Australia became the first Allied warship to be targeted by kamikaze attack.
We’ve come from being wartime allies to democratic partners in the Asia-Pacific region. We are both allies of the United States.
Underpinning our strong sense of shared history and shared political outlook is a natural affinity born of close people to people ties.
Around 200,000 Australians claim Filipino ancestry, an impressive statistic for a country of only 21 million people.
Our economy, like so many others, benefits from the Philippines’ talented, English-speaking workforce. Filipinos are the third largest source of temporary skilled workers to Australia.
We are also able to rely on businesspeople like you, who do so much to build both the commercial relationship and the wider social networks that add ballast to official contacts.
For over 30 years, since 1975, the Australia-Philippines Business Council and its counterpart here in Manila, the Philippines-Australia Business Council, have supported commercial, investment and trade activities between our two countries.
Across business sectors ranging from agriculture to infrastructure to minerals and resources, you have been strong advocates for the expansion of Australian – Philippines bilateral trade and investment.
I am pleased to acknowledge here the members of the Australian business delegation to the PAMM, who represent a range of companies active in minerals and petroleum resources, services and infrastructure industries, and whose presence reflects the emphasis the Australian Government places on the bilateral economic and trade relationship and its potential for further growth.
The Philippines mining industry is of great potential, an industry in which many of you have interests.
I also have a close interest in the minerals and petroleum resources industry, given my own State, Western Australia, is such an important global player in the industry.
Australia is a world leader in minerals and petroleum resources. Our resources companies are significant players in regional oil and gas exploration.
Nido Petroleum, based in Perth, is focusing its exploration activities on the Palawan Basin. A number of other Australian resources companies are involved in projects throughout the Philippines, from small scale exploration through to large scale mining operations.
The recent growth in Australian investment in the Philippines, which rose from just under $900 million in 2001 to over $1.5 billion last year, is largely driven by the mining sector.
But it’s not just minerals and petroleum that offer great opportunities.
Australian cosmetics are making inroads to Filipino boutiques, with a growing number of outlets selling Australian made organic creams and lotions.
Marine Blue from Mandurah in Western Australia is one example: they do good business selling sunblock to both the tourist and the local market.
The livestock sector also shows great promise. Australian goats are being imported as a part of an effort to develop the meat and dairy sector across the country.
Filipino horse breeders and racers are also looking at Australia to source thoroughbred horses for the racing industry.
Last month, Austrade brought over 20 Filipino buyers to Australian Fine Food in Melbourne, to promote new Australian processed food lines. Supermarket and specialty stores in the Philippines now stock a growing range of Australian made foods.
Although two-way merchandise trade was valued at almost $2 billion in 2007, a 9 per cent increase on the year before, it’s fair to say that our economic relationship with the Philippines has not kept up with the growth of our trade with ASEAN as a whole.
We believe there are good prospects, in the right economic environment, for expansion of our commercial relationship in the infrastructure, financial services and automotive sectors.
Leighton is one Australian company that has been active in the infrastructure sector in the Philippines. McConnell-Dowell, headquartered in Melbourne, is another Australian company with active operations here including on several renewable hydro-electric projects.
The financial services sector also represents another area where Mr Crean and I believe Australia can be more active in the Philippines.
ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks, is already active in the Philippines and there is strong potential for further, broader growth in this industry.
Likewise on automotives, where Australia hosted a senior automotive mission from the Philippines earlier this year, business players in both our countries are now actively pursuing further areas for collaboration.
The Philippines Government shares our view that there is considerable scope for further trade growth.
We also see both great potential in the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which we hope to sign later this year.
In terms of coverage, this FTA is the biggest trade agreement Australia has ever negotiated.
It will provide a solid platform for continuing economic engagement between Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN, and it’s a step towards deeper regional integration.
Once fully implemented, tariff elimination on goods will cover around 95 per cent of trade. There are also promising commitments by the Philippines in relation to the professional services of engineering, accounting, construction and architecture.
Australia and the Philippines, as members of the East Asia Summit, are also looking at the longer term potential of further trade liberalisation with research currently being undertaken into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia – essentially an East Asia Summit-wide FTA focusing on the benefits of economic cooperation, liberalisation and facilitation.
A Strong Relationship: Cooperation in Global and Regional Affairs
At our PAMM meetings earlier today we had a discussion about our broad global and regional concerns.
Against the background of the current global financial turmoil, I made the point that, while Australia is not immune from its effects, our financial system is better placed than that of most countries to deal with the uncertainty.
Australia’s financial sector is well-regulated and well-capitalised. We have a strong surplus to buffer against global turmoil and to provide a foundation for responsible investment in the future
The Philippines is a key international partner for Australia and Mr Crean and I welcomed the opportunity to discuss global financial and other issues with our counterparts today.
Australia and the Philippines work closely together in regional and international bodies, including the United Nations.
What we agreed to do now is to take our cooperation to a new level.
We are already working towards that.
Last month, while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, I attended the Third Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace meeting chaired by Foreign Secretary Romulo.
I told the Ministerial meeting that Australia proposed to upgrade its participation in that Ministerial Dialogue from observer status to full member.
We hope to attend the next meeting as a fully participating member.
Australia already co-sponsors our Regional Interfaith Dialogue with the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand.
Both our countries have a proud record of contributing to United Nations peacekeeping missions. Our defence and police personnel worked alongside each other in East Timor.
Defence and Security
Our defence ties are an important and valuable element of Australia’s bilateral relationship with the Philippines.
Each year, some 130 members of Philippines Armed Forces train in Australia.
We look forward to the ratification of our Status of Visiting Forces Agreement by the Philippines Senate.
Australia commends the efforts of the Philippine security forces in combating regional terrorism. Australia will continue to help where we can.
The struggle against terrorism is as difficult as it is vital.
Some of the most effective work on counter-terrorism is done at the practical, operational level by police forces.
Experience has taught us the critical importance of painstaking, routine investigative work.
Here in the Philippines, numerous Australian agencies are involved in providing assistance to counterpart agencies in law enforcement, intelligence, border and maritime security, anti-money laundering, and counter-radicalisation.
The objective is to build capacity and improve whole-of-government coordination as well as the sustainability of counter-terrorism efforts.
Under an MOU on counter-terrorism signed in 2002, the Australian Federal Police have established a Manila Regional Cooperation Team and the Manila Bomb Data Centre.
This Centre is one of a number of Regional Bomb Data Centres, including in Thailand and Indonesia, which link up with existing centres in Singapore and Australia.
The Regional Bomb Data Centres focus on gathering pre- and post-blast technical material relating to improvised explosive devices, and collaborate by sharing data, expertise, and technical assistance.
We greatly value the productive counter-terrorism relationships the Australian Federal Police and other agencies have developed with the Philippines and other regional partners. These relationships are enhanced through our officials’ bilateral counter-terrorism consultations, most recently held in May this year.
Social Resilience and Development
As important as this counter-terrorism work is, it’s important to see it in the wider context of building a social and economic community that can provide for its people.
By promoting a greater degree of economic security, you foster a community that reduces the probability that people accept violence as a means to achieve social and political change.
This is very much the context in which Australia’s development assistance programs are delivered.
Australia is a major development assistance donor to ASEAN and the Philippines.
We provide both bilateral and regional assistance, designed to address transnational threats such as people trafficking, illicit drugs, terrorism, infectious diseases, and to promote regional economic integration.
Australia is an especially strong supporter of the Philippines Government’s development efforts.
We are the second largest donor to the Philippines after Japan, providing nearly $110 million in 2008-09. Our support is focused on providing basic education, rural development and human security.
In terms of rural development, for example, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), AusAID and the Australian Department of Agriculture are collectively investing over $100 million to assist the Philippines in areas such as horticulture, land care and pest surveys.
The Importance of Education
I’m proud of the crucial contribution Australia makes here in education, promoting the country’s economic and social development.
Growing numbers of Filipino students are now looking to study in Australia. The Government welcomes more of them to our excellent educational institutions.
Foreign Secretary Romulo and I will be working to make that happen.
Australian universities see the potential in the Philippines. I’m especially pleased that the University of Western Australia offers an in-country MBA program here.
This morning I visited the Baseco Elementary School, an excellent example of the practical cooperation between AusAID and the Philippines Department of Education. I enjoyed meeting teachers, administrators and some of the school’s over 4,000 students.
I saw at first-hand how an Arabic Language and Islamic Values curriculum, originally developed for Mindanao, is also being used to great effect in Manila. At Baseco, which has a growing Muslim student body, this curriculum is taught at the weekend madrasah.
During my visit to the school, I announced an additional Australian contribution of $13 million for a Muslim and Indigenous Peoples’ Education Facility to improve access to and quality of primary education for some of the Philippines’ most disadvantaged girls and boys.
The new three-year program will expand teacher training, develop culturally appropriate curriculum and learning materials and build more classrooms, particularly in remote areas.
Through this three year project, schools will also implement programs developed with Australia, that teach Arabic language and Islamic values to encourage more Muslim children to join mainstream schools.
Around half of our development assistance program is focused on improving education, health and economic development opportunities in Mindanao.
Australia is a very strong supporter of the Mindanao peace process and we look forward to a resumption of the peace talks.
In Mindanao, Australia is helping to improve the quality of basic education and education management, through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao, the BEAM Program.
This has a strong focus on increasing the access of disadvantaged groups, particularly indigenous peoples, remote communities and Muslim communities, to education.
Since 2002, nearly 30,000 people have benefited from BEAM’s Access programs.
Around 170 Community Learning Centres have been established in remote communities to serve as classrooms for Distance Learning (School of the Air).
In response to a request from the Philippines’ Government to help integrate education for Muslim children into public schools, the BEAM program has since 2005 expanded its assistance to Islamic education.
Conclusion
The Government wants to take Australia’s relationship with the Philippines to a new level. There’s a great deal to build on, as I’ve outlined today.
I acknowledge the work that you do here.
The commercial networks you build and sustain play a vital role in deepening the ties between our countries and our people.
They’re part of a much wider effort in promoting the bilateral relationship between the Philippines and Australia, and building stability and prosperity in this country and the region.
I wish you and your industry colleagues every success.
Thank you.