Taipei, June 25 (CNA) The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei celebrated the 112th anniversary of the founding of the Philippines Friday in a cocktail reception with diplomats from the Philippines and Taiwan calling for deeper and closer relationships under the new Philippine administration.
Benigno Simeon C. Aquino will be sworn in as Philippine president on June 30.
Taiwan "is our sixth-largest trading partner and our fifth-largest source of foreign direct investments. It ranks fifth in tourist arrivals and is host to almost 90,000 Filipino workers, of which 65 percent work in the high-tech manufacturing industry, " said Antonio Basilio, managing director of the MECO, the Philippine authority in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Basilio told around 300 guests, including Taiwan diplomats, businesspeople and foreign representatives in Taiwan, that 21 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on a wide range of areas have been signed by both sides in the last five years -- evidence of a strong friendship.
Taiwan is keen to forge a closer partnership with its closest neighbor to the south because the countries "share the same democratic values" and the economies of Taiwan and the Philippines complement each other well, said Shen Ssu-tsun, deputy minister of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Basilio and Shen both said that warming cross-Taiwan Strait relations have had a positive impact on peace and stability in the region and created new dynamics that favor economic growth and integration in the region.
"This has also opened new pathways of friendship and cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines," Basilio said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc