IV
The Value Added by France in the Sustainable Socioeconomic Development in the Philippines by Anton T. Huang Chairman of the Philippines-France Business Council
2017 marks an important historical milestone for the Philippines
and France. In 1947, then-Philippine Vice President Elpidio Quirino and then-Foreign Minister Georges Bidault signed a Treaty of Friendship, calling for constant peace and perpetual friendship between these two countries. Without a doubt, however, the bonds of friendship and mutual respect between our two nations go beyond the last 70 years. The Philippines-France Business Council (PFBC), in particular, has continuously advocated for the Philippine-French bilateral relationship to evolve to that of a progressive partnership founded on shared ideals and principles of social and economic development, and environmental sustainability. Launched on 6 October 1998 in Manila, with Philippine Trade and Industry Undersecretary Melito Salazar and French Minister of Foreign Trade Jacques Dondoux in attendance, the PFBC aims to identify and develop areas of cooperation between French and Philippine corporations, through encouraging the development of mutual investment sectors. Moreover, the Council has been actively working for the promotion of the Philippine market as the emerging preferred investment destination for the French businessman, having brought in high-level Philippine business delegations to France, in the interest of growing the French presence in our country. The Council’s most recent mission, done in September 2014, was led by then-President Benigno Aquino III, and was the first visit of a Philippine head of State to France since 1994. In 2015, on the occasion of the State Visit of French President François Hollande to the Philippines, the PFBC and the Makati Business Club organized a forum with the Philippine and French business communities to strengthen the call for collective action in response to climate change. Underscoring the President’s views 264
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