HONG KONG - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Wednesday that the Philippines has "very good prospects" of attracting huge investments from mainland China's corporate giants, and getting significant official development assistance from Beijing.

Assessing the outcome of her five-day, five-province trip to the mainland to co-chair the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) + China Summit in Nanning with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the President said among the top Chinese investors interested in expanding its investment in the Philippines is Bau Steel, the No. 1 steel company in China and No. 5 in the world.

Bau Steel and China Development Bank are investing $1 billion in the Nonoc nickel mine in Surigao.

The President said the Philippines and China have been working on the Chinese investment in Nonoc since 2005 and "I would really like to see the investments on the ground already because the people of Surigao certainly can benefit from that."

Surigao is one of the 10 poorest provinces of the Philippines.

The President said that although it is a member of the Xingjuan consortium, Bau Steel, on its own, is looking for investment opportunities in the coal and iron ore mining sector.

She said Prime Minister Wen told that Xingjuan is No. 1 in nickel in China and No. 2 in the word.

The President said she has invited the chair of Bau Steel, a woman, through Chinese businessman Victor Kung, to visit the Philippines "so she can look at business opportunities in the Philippines."

A member of the board of Bau Steel, Kung is a "very good friend of the Philippines," the President said.

The Chief Executive said she made Xiamen her first stop in her China trip because 80 percent of the descendants of Filipino-Chinese are from Fujian and "Xiamen is the commercial city of Fujian."

She said she also wanted to explore opportunities for Philippine agricultural exports to Fujian, which imports agricultural products by way of Japan, "whereas we can ship it directly to them." (www.gov.ph)

November 3, 2006