Launching the Canada-Philippines Business
Council
Remarks by the Hon. David Kilgour, P.C.,
M.P.
Member
of Parliament (Edmonton Southeast) and Secretary
of State (Asia-Pacific)
Sheraton
Hotel, Ottawa, ON
June 12,
2003
Check against
delivery
My remarks will be brief as having given
a number of these “pre-lunch”
speeches, the emphasis should be on the
lunch and not on the speeches.
My
ties to the Philippines and the Filipino
community in Canada go back many years.
There’s an exceptionally vibrant community
in Edmonton and I can’t count how many
times I’ve been fortunate enough to
experience the warmth of Filipino hospitality.
So when I visited the Philippines for the
first time last July, it almost felt like
I had already been there. During a three
day visit – Eleni Bakopanos, member
of parliament from Laval accompanied me
– all of us were overwhelmed by the
welcome we received; so overwhelmed, in
fact, it almost seems like they never wanted
us to leave.
As
the Ambassador mentioned, it is fitting
that you chose today, the Philippines Independence
Day, to nationally launch your organisation.
From the initial declaration of independence
after the Spanish-American war in 1898,
the Filipino people struggled resolutely
for full independence for a further 48 years.
Today offers an opportunity not only to
celebrate the Philippines’ character
as a nation, but to celebrate its peoples
indomitable spirit; a spirit of hard work,
of dedication, and of remarkable generosity;
a spirit reflected by your organization.
Today
marks the transformation of the Canada-Philippine
Business Council from a local, Ottawa based
group to a national organization with chapters
across the country, from St John’s,
to Montreal to Edmonton to Ottawa. The expansion
will enable your organization to better
fulfill the mission of fostering, promoting,
and facilitating trade between our two countries.
The Philippine economy is showing promise:
it has demonstrated remarkable resilience
in the face of fluctuations in the global
economy. It had the second fastest growing
economy in Southeast Asia last year with
GDP growth of 4.6 %. Inflation is down and
the peso has been stable. The positive performance
is due to increased political stability
and President Arroyo’s determined approach
to the country’s economic policy. Trade
between our countries sits at $1.4 billion/year,
with imports from the Philippines exceeding
$1.1 billion. There is great demand and
potential for the Council’s work.
The
Council’s mission statement, to “represent
the interests of Canadian members in developing
business with the Philippines,” extends
far beyond commerce to impact citizens on
both sides of the Pacific in a very meaningful
way.
One
such way is by helping in the fight to combat
poverty in the Philippines. The trade generated
by your efforts works hand in hand with
the Canadian International Development Agency’s
assistance plan to create an infrastructure
for poverty alleviation. During my visit,
we visited a development project co-sponsored
by Edmonton based and Filipino Catholic
charities in Payatas, outside of Manila.
Payatas is Manilla’s largest dump-site,
so big in fact that it’s hard to tell
where it began or where it ended. Garbage
is piled as high as seven stories in some
places and families and mainly children
live on the dump, trying desperately to
eke out a living. The project works with
these families and their children mainly
through educational programs, such as basic
literacy and technical skills. They’ve
been so successful that now, in addition
to CIDA funding, they are able to leverage
further financing from the World Bank, the
Japanese, and Philippines governments.
Obviously,
trade between Canada and the Philippines
is not going to solve the poverty problem,
but job creating foreign direct investment
will help. Socially just investment promoted
by your organization will create a higher
standard of living for individuals and social
development for communities.
The
ties between our countries were reinforced
in January 2002 when President Arroyo made
her first visit to Canada as Head of State
and she and the Prime Minister witnessed
the signing of six bilateral agreements.
President Arroyo, as most of you probably
know, was accompanied by a business delegation
seeking to promote the Philippines as an
outstanding business partner and an investment
and tourism destination of choice. A number
of business agreements were signed during
the visit, in areas related to telecommunications,
low-cost housing, petroleum and gas exploration,
and manufacturing.
Finally,
perhaps the most important source of strength
and resources for the Council is our vibrant
Filipino-Canadian community. Canada receives
10,000-12,000 new arrivals from the Philippines
each year; it is our fourth largest source
of immigrants. Today, there are over 400,000
Canadians of Filipino origin. Filipino’s
are now Canada’s teachers, doctors,
and even politicians (it is unfortunate
that my colleague Dr. Rey Pagtakhan couldn’t
be here to join us). Your community has
a rich and diverse culture which crystallizes
the Canadian identity, and is a tremendous
asset to the Canadian family.
So
to close, thank you for letting me say a
few words. I’ll let you get to your
lunches – and if you would ever like
to come and see me to discuss Canada-Philippines
relations or other issues, my door is always
open. Thank you. Merci.
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