President Ma Ying-jeou met with Ms. Annabelle Tecson-Abaya, the Philippine Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, at the Presidential Office on the morning of May 5. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a cordial welcome to Ms. Tecson-Abaya on her visit to Taiwan.
The president remarked that Taiwan and the Philippines maintain close relations, and the two are separated geographically by only the Bashi Channel. Over the past nine years, he said, Taiwan and the Philippines have signed 21 agreements in a variety of areas including the economy, agriculture, technology, and customs. Relations between the two sides are stable and close, he said.
President Ma furthermore noted that bilateral trade each year stands at about US$6 billion. The Philippines is Taiwan's 15th largest trading partner and Taiwan has invested approximately US$2.2 billion in the Philippines, making it the seventh largest investor in its southern neighbor. Each year, Taiwan businessmen make about 100,000 visits to the Philippines, he said. The president commented that the Philippines is quite a friendly neighbor to Taiwan.
The president stated that Ms. Tecson-Abaya is an expert negotiator with a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University and a great deal of experience in negotiations with rebels in the Philippines. Ms. Tecson-Abaya, the president said, has served as a consultant to the United Nations, the United States Agency for International Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank, providing training to persons in those institutions in the art of negotiation and mediation. In addition, Ms. Tecson-Abaya previously served as the spokesperson for former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, he said, noting that she has a wide network of contacts. President Ma said he hopes that this visit to Taiwan by Ms. Tecson-Abaya will prove beneficial in further developing relations between the two countries.
Ms. Tecson-Abaya said she is pleased to have the opportunity to visit Taiwan. She noted enormous changes on many fronts here, and specially praised President Ma for his contributions to modern democracy. She said that Taiwan and the Philippines maintain good relations in such spheres as the economy, politics, and society, and that trade between the two nations is particularly active. She expressed her hope that such ties will continue to grow. Ms. Tecson-Abaya also commented that President Ma's efforts to improve relations between Taiwan and mainland China are having a positive influence on the state of affairs in the Taiwan Strait and benefitting Asia as a whole.
Ms. Tecson-Abaya was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin and Antonio I. Basilio, Managing Director and Resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office Taiwan, to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Dr. Philip Y. M. Yang.