KEY NOTE ADDRESS
MR. ROBERT VAN PULLEY
Country Director, World Bank
National Mining Conference
Holiday Inn Galleria Manila, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
December 3, 2003

Secretary Gozun, distinguished guests, members of the mining industry, members of civil society and the NGO community, government representatives, ladies and gentlemen.

When the DENR asked for our assistance on the mining sector last year with the support of NEDA and the Department of Finance, we were pleased to help, because mining can make a major contribution to development and poverty reduction, both for local communities and the nation as a whole. This is especially so given the rich mineral resources present in the Philippines. Yes, there are natural environmental and social concerns, but experience elsewhere in the world has demonstrated that these concerns can be mitigated while developing the mining sector.

The nation of Chile has successfully used its mineral resources as a base for economic development and diversification making it the first Latin American country to move from a developing to a developed country. We will hear more on this tomorrow from the former Chilean Finance Minister Herman Buchi.

The Antamina mine in Peru has been used as a vehicle for regional economic development opening up the region to new investment and diversification into other economic activity such as tourism. The Peru study tour visited this mine and the former Mayor of Halluanca in this region, was a speaker at the regional mining workshops.

Some of you may be asking what is the World Bank’s view on mining and what type of assistance are we providing in the Philippines.

It is a fact that countries need minerals as an essential input to production. The World Bank Group believes that nations can harness their mineral resources in a socially and environmentally responsible way to increase economic growth and expand the public revenue base needed to achieve sustainable development and to reduce poverty. The Philippines is known to have large reserves of minerals that, if properly managed, could be used for its development and poverty reduction, especially in the remote areas where mineral resources are often located. It is unfortunate, and we must recognize, that not all mining developments in the Philippines in the past have been managed in an environmentally and socially responsible way. The country must learn from these mistakes and take lessons of good practice from other countries as it pursues future mineral development.

The Bank agreed to provide information on mining development experience around the world and advisory services for building consensus for sustainable development of the Philippine mineral resources. The assistance being provided is in line with the role of the World Bank as a knowledge bank to share and disseminate practices and experiences from other countries. The process of developing policy on mining is being led by DENR and the role of the Bank has been to help support the Government in this process by sharing this knowledge with stakeholders, leading to better-informed decision-making.

Specifically, the Bank has been happy to assist in three main areas.

1. We provided international resources speakers from Latin America for the Regional Mining Workshops to present their experience on the local economic and social impact and contribution of mining;

2. We assisted in organizing the mine study tours to expose a wide variety of stakeholders to mine practices in Australia, Canada and Peru. These tours were funded by the support of the Australian, Canadian and U.S. governments.

3. And, we coordinated international speakers and support for this National Mining Conference. However, this conference would not be possible without the generous support of the Japanese government, so we very much appreciate their contribution.

Although, the Bank has not had any direct involvement in the formulation of the National Minerals Policy, we hope you will use this conference as an opportunity to learn from each other and as input into the ongoing process of policy formulation and eventual implementation.

Thank you and I wish you a productive conference.