By Naveed Miraj, Faisal Shahzad, Shahid Qureshi
Islamabad: Philippines Ambassador to Pakistan Maria Agnes M. Cervantes has said that they want to further extend cooperation with Pakistan in diverse sectors, especially in trade, health, culture, and tourism. She expressed these views during her visit to WE News office, Islamabad on Thursday.
Trade Cooperation
The Ambassador said that trade between the Philippines and Pakistan has been increasing historically, adding that Philippine businesses and multinational companies can cooperate with Pakistan in the field of infrastructure and agriculture. The Ambassador added that her country can also facilitate Pakistani businessmen in the Philippines. She said, “The Total trade between the two countries is currently at USD 210 million, with trade figures favoring Pakistan as more Pakistan commodities are being exported to the Philippines compared to the exports of the Philippines to Pakistan.”
She said that there is a need to take more steps to facilitate trade and investment between the two nations, particularly in areas like textiles, food processing, and IT. She said that currently, the two sides have a very active Philippines-Pakistan Business Council, composed of Pakistani businessmen with investments in the Philippines.
Responding to a question, the Ambassador said the investors of the two sides should extend cooperation in industrial machinery and transport, technology, and telecommunications sectors.
Education
The ambassador also expressed her view on cooperation between the educational institutions of the two sides and said that the Philippine Embassy in Pakistan can link Pakistan-based educational institutions to institutions in the Philippines to hold talks on exchange programs, research and capacity building for the benefit of the two countries. She added that government-to-government engagements are a must to initiate engagements, but private-sector involvement is needed for sustainability and development.
She added that the Philippine Embassy in Pakistan has been engaging various Pakistan Universities, adding that Pakistani students may view the Philippines as a friendly and welcoming country for their academic and career development pursuits.
Tourism
The Ambassador added that tourism is an important aspect of bilateral relations. She lauded the majestic mountains of Pakistan, adding that the two sides can cooperate in this sector as the Philippines offers the best Southeast Asian nature experience for tourists.
Pakistan and Philippines Ties
She said that Pakistan and the Philippines are friendly nations and want to extend cooperation in
diverse sectors. She said that they are open to enhancing this partnership between the Philippines and Pakistan. She hoped to further strengthen cultural and economic ties. She added that there are around 30 MOUs signed between the Philippines and Pakistan in the fields of agriculture, economic and trade, investment protection, banking and finance, defense, and cultural cooperation. The Philippines and Pakistan also share the advocacy for the protection of migrant workers. She said that there is a need for more B2B coordination to increase the economic engagement between the two countries.
Future Projects
About future projects, she said that the two sides are making efforts to cooperate in the health sector, and said, “There are initiatives by medical and nursing schools in Pakistan for student exchange with Philippine medical and nursing schools and we hope that it materializes soon so future medical experts from both countries will be more globally competitive.
ASEAN
She added that the two sides can work together to address regional and global challenges like climate change, pandemics, and economic inequality. She remarked that they need to explore all avenues for cooperation in these areas, not only on the Government side but also on the private sector.
Regarding ASEAN, she said that the forum was formed to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. She added that the ASEAN, ensure regional stability in their region and promotes social, economic and cultural development.
During her visit, she lauded the professionalism of the staff members. She met with staff members and expressed happiness over WE News contributions in the digital media. The diplomat took special interest in the sports, and culture sections of the WE News and termed culture as a very strong bond in bringing people of different regions together.
WE News staff and the Ambassador discussed the role of digital media in the society during the visit. The visiting dignitary was of the view that it is the age of digital media and more and more focus should be given to digital platforms to take benefit from the new trends in the media industry as the traditional media cannot compete with digital platforms without accepting the new realities in the technology.
