NEWS

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and Chinese Embassy Economic and Commercial Counsellor Jiang Jianjun agreed to attend and speak in a forum on China’s growing global role and expanding influence in developing countries such as the Philippines.

Jiang, in behalf of Ambassador Zhao Jianhua, and Nograles will lead the discussions with their thoughts on the new world order which has gained much attention in this region and other continents.

Martin Jacques, author of the best-seller “When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order”, will keynote the event organized and co-presented by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP). Filipino and foreign businessmen based here in Manila, and most of the members of either chamber, are very keen in understanding China which is now at the forefront of trade and investments.

Rocky Dimaculangan, Vice President for Communication of the Chamber of Mines, noted that the country’s mineral resource industry is currently very dependent on its trade with China as the majority of the mining exports to the Asian powerhouse. Several members go to the PCCI, on the other hand, are wary of being caught between the United States and China and their on-going trade and tariff discussions.

PCCI and COMP are pleased that Mr. Jacques has agreed to come back to Manila after his speaking engagement here in 2012. It is very timely for the country’s business sector to revisit the discussion on China’s role especially in the region. Jacques is credited for having foretold the ascendancy of China as a world power 10 years ago. He is a fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University and was a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Some 350 business, government, and media leaders are expected to attend the discussion on September 10 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

Source: Manila Bulletin