Arroyo tells India to ‘look East’

INDIA: Philippine President Gloria Arroyo Thursday called for increased trade with India at the start of a three-day visit.

“We urge Indian companies to look eastwards. Currently the balance of trade is lopsided in India’s favour,” Arroyo said in a speech to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

Making the first visit to India in a decade by a Philippine president, Arroyo said her country was sourcing cheaper medicines from India to boost its healthcare system.

“We are bullish on India,” she said, adding that India was also “obligated to its neighbours.” The first day of the visit saw a trade agreement between New Delhi-based Panacea Biotec and the Family Vaccines and Speciality Clinics, the largest private sector vaccination centre chain across the Philippines. Manila-based IT firm Intellectual Properties Ventures Group (IPVG) and India’s Credence Analytics, a Mumbai-based technology solutions firm, also signed an agreement.

Mining was also high on the agenda.

“Private sector Indian companies like Hindalco and Sterlite have shown preliminary interest to invest in the mining sector in the Philippines,” Benjamin Philip Romualdez, of the Philippines Chamber of Mines, told reporters.

There are at least 24 mining projects in the pipeline and 35 in the exploratory stage, he added.

New Delhi launched a “Look East” policy in the early 1990s aimed at forging ties with the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia, but analysts say relations with the Philippines have been lagging.

Bilateral trade is below the billion dollar mark.

Mumbai, Friday, AFP