by Mr. Anton T. Huang, Chairman of the Philippines-France Business Council

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

on enhancement of areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, a contract signing ceremony between numerous Philippine and French companies for ventures and projects in renewable energy and infrastructure development was done alongside the forum.

Our business communities take pride in the fact that both the Philippines and France not only share a mutual ideal and love for liberty and democracy, but also enjoy a robust economic partnership.

To date, France has been consistently one of our country’s major markets for import and export merchandise trade. In 2016 alone, Philippine exports to France amounted to US$726.6 million while imports totaled US$933.2 million, making the country the 15th biggest market in terms of total trade value. More notably, France has risen to become the Philippines’ third largest trading partner among the European Union member states.

Truly, we can be proud of the strong foundation our two countries have built together—perhaps the strongest we have seen in recent years. Amid the many changes and challenges facing the world today, we can continue to take comfort and confidence in the enduring friendship between our two nations, as our hopes remain high that the ties that bind us together continue to thrive.

Figure 162. 26 February 2015. President François Hollande, the first French President to officially visit the Philippines, at the Forum on Climate Change and Inclusive Development, organized in partnership with the Philippines-France Business Council.

CLOSER LINKAGES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Since the signing of the Philippines-France Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Higher Education and Research during the State Visit of former President François Hollande to the Philippines on 26 February 2015, bilateral cooperation on higher education and research has been one of the most dynamic areas of bilateral cooperation in recent years.

The Joint Committee provided for in the MOU has met thrice. The first meeting was hosted by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in Manila on 22 to 23 June 2016, while the second meeting was hosted by the French Ministry of Higher Education in Paris on 5 to 9 September 2016. The third Joint Committee Meeting was held in Cebu City on 31 May to 1 June 2018. During these meetings, both sides have been able to establish new partnerships and cooperation between Philippine and French universities.

As part of the K to 12 transition program, CHED has set up partnerships with foreign governments and universities to provide Filipino university professors with opportunities for further education. In 2017, CHED signed agreements with the French government for the CHED-PhilFrance scholarship in January and with Sciences Po Paris for another scholarship agreement in June. To date, there are about 20 Filipino teachers enrolled in different French universities.

There are now more than 50 academic partnerships that exist between Philippine and French universities. France welcomes close to 300 Filipino students annually while the Philippines welcomes around 70 French students a year. For example, the Ateneo de Manila University regularly sends its undergraduates abroad for a school term, including different French universities such as the Catholic University of Lille and Sciences Po Paris.

In January 2018, the Ateneo de Manila and Science Po Paris conducted the “Urban Laboratory 2018: Urban Resilience and Sustainability Challenges Governance Innovations from the Global South.” The research exchange program sought to familiarize foreign and Filipino participants with the challenges of city governance in a context of rapid urban sprawl, densification, and increasingly visible threats brought by climate change related events and proliferation of

systemic risks. The laboratory was participated in by over 60 students and faculty members from Sciences Po Paris and over 60 Filipino students and academics from the Ateneo de Manila University and other Philippine Higher Education Institutions such as Ateneo de Naga, Ateneo de Zamboanga, University of San Carlos, Miriam College, De La Salle University, and others.

UniLaSalle, a French engineering school, will be sending close to 50 of its students to its partner La Salle institutions in the Philippines in 2018 for short-term exchanges as part of the drive for internationalization.

As Philippine-French cooperation in higher education deepens, areas for growth include expanding academic mobility, exploring research collaborations and sandwich programs, and mutual recognition of diplomas.

CHAPTER NOTES

1 To understand how the French considered the American rule in the Philippines, see William Guéraiche, “Regards français sur la colonisation américaine aux Philippines (1898-1916) [French glances on American colonization in Philippines…]”, Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains, No. 209 (January-March 2003), p. 103-117. 2 Philippines Office of Legal Affairs – Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA-OLA) and the Library Services of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Treaties Online — List.

3 Handwritten note presumably by Foreign Minister Bidault to Millet found on the 29 March 1947 letter of Gaston Willoquet to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. 4 Ibid. 5 Telegram from the Ministère des Affaires étrangères-Asie-Océanie to Haussaire Saigon dated 19 May 1947 citing reports from the French representative in Manila. 6 Salvador Lopez, “Diplomat and Nationalist” in Elpidio Quirino The Judgement of History, (President Elpidio Quirino Foundation, 1990), p. 83. 7 Interview of Vice President Elpidio Quirino published in Le Monde, 14 June 1947. 8 Lopez, op. cit., p. 84. 9 The meeting discussed the Philippine position against colonialism being advocated by General Carlos P. Romulo in the United Nations where France takes offence. Quirino also raised the following points: that the policy of the Philippines was that of a very young nation, which mainly focused on rebuilding the country from its own ashes and finding its own national stability; that, in these conditions, the Philippine Government was determined not to intervene in foreign issues that it is not concerned with; that, in any case, this instinctive sympathy for independence movements could not take precedence over the Philippine Government’s strong desire to have friendly relationships with powers with a liberal tradition, such as France. Found in the Report on the official conversation between Mr. Georges BIDAULT and Mr. Elpidio QUIRINO, the Vice President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines on 13 June 1947, pages 147-149. 10 “Proclamation No. 184, s. 1950”, Official Gazette, http://www.officialgazette.gov. ph/1950/05/12/proclamation-no-184-s-1950/ 11 Ministère des Affaires étrangères-Asie-Océanie documents on the visit of Fernando Lopez. 12 Lopez, op. cit., p. 84. 13 Sabah question. Accompanying him on this trip was the Congressman Jovito Salonga. 14 Statement of Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez during the Regional Conference attended by Philippine Ambassadors and Chargés d’Affaires to Paris, Rome, Holy See, The Hague, Berne, London, Bonn, and Madrid. Philippine Embassy Annual Report, 1962-1963, p. 10. 15 Report on the Meeting between General Charles de Gaulle and Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez, 8 February 1963.

16 Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/ JFKWHP-ST-C422-87-63.aspx/ Accessed on 28 April 2018. 17 http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1978/11/20/official-week-in-review-november13-november-1978/ Accessed on 28 April 2018 18 Presidential Management Staff, “France: A Symbolic Meeting” in Her People’s Emissary, (Office of the President, June 1992), pp.17-18. 19 Ibid.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 Ibid.

26 Speech of President Ramos at a dinner hosted by Foreign Minister Alain Juppé of France on President Ramos’ official visit to France, 13 September 1994, http:// www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1994/09/13/speech-of-president-ramos-at-a-dinnerhosted-by-foreign-minister-alain-juppe-of-france-on-president-ramos-visit-to-france/ 27 Ibid. 28 Embassy of France in Manila, Official Visit of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to the Philippines, October 19 to 21, 2012, https://ph.ambafrance.org/OfficialVisit-of-Prime-Minister-Jean-Marc-Ayrault-to-the-Philippines-October. 29 Embassy of France in Manila, State Visit of President François Hollande to the Philippines on 26-27 February 2017, https://ph.ambafrance.org/State-Visit-ofFrench-President

30 Data from the Philippine Trade and Investment Center-Paris. 31 Philippine Embassy in Paris Annual Report 1982. 32 Philippine Embassy in Paris Annual Report 2007 and 2008. 33 Interview with Mr. François de Bortoli, International Cooperation Senior Director of Airbus, 7 and 8 March 2017.

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COOPERATION IN THE gLOBAL ARENA: SHAPINg A MORE JUST AND EqUITABLE wORLD