Philippines, China firms ink 6 new deals

MANILA, Philippines - Six new agreements between Guangxi state-owned firms and local enterprises were signed yesterday as part of the continuing warming relations between the Philippines and China.

Of the six, three agreements were inked between Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port Group Co. Ltd. and Carrascal Nickel Corp. (CNC).

The three deals covered strategic cooperation agreements of international logistics network nodes building, lateritic nickel ore procurement and freight routes.

The Port Group and CNC agreed to jointly build international logistics network nodes and participate in the development, operation and management of Philippine port projects through necessary investigations and preliminary feasibility studies.

The two firms will also maintain a stable supply-demand relationship of laterite nickel ore, with CNC agreeing to supply not less than 1.5 million tons of laterite nickel ore that meet grade requirements annually to the companies under the Port Group.

Both parties chose Beibu Gulf Shipping Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Port Group, as the carrier of the lateritic nickel ore that CNC ships to China.

The Port Group is a state-owned enterprise that operates and manages ports and modern terminals, while CNC is a local company engaged in the mining and export of nickel ore.

Another agreement signed is a hydropower station contracting project between China Energy Engineering Group Guangxi Hydroelectric Construction Bureau Co. Ltd., one of China’s biggest integrated construction enterprise, and Coheco Badeo, a Filipino firm primarily engaged in green energy development.

Their agreement involves the development of the 500-megawatt Kibungan Badeo pumped storage hydropower project in Benguet expected to cost $550 million.

Another pact inked was a framework agreement of strategic cooperation on tourism between Guangxi Tourism Development Group and the JTKC Group Co., owner of Discovery Coast in Boracay.

Under the agreement, the two parties will share resources and play the advantage of each country to organize a number of prime tourism lines targeted at the tourists.

They will also strengthen the business cooperation of travel agencies by organizing the tourists of one country to travel and take vacation in the other country.

A separate agreement for charter flights between Nanning and Manila has likewise been reached between Nanning Xi Yangyang International Travel Agency and the FAB View Travel and Tours.

In line with the improving relationship between China and the Philippines, the agreement seeks to capitalize on the rich tourism resources of the Philippines and the huge market of Guangxi.

Peng Qinghua, secretary of Communist Party of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee, said in his speech during yesterday’s China-Philippines business matching seminar for entrepreneurs that total import and export volume between the Philippines and Guangxi recorded an annual average growth of 16.5 percent from 2012 to 2016, demonstrating the huge potential in trading cooperation.