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MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino will be hosting a state dinner for Queen Sofia of Spain on the second day of her official visit to the Philippines on Tuesday, July 3.
The dinner will be held at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang and will be followed by toasts from Aquino and the Spanish Queen.
Queen Sofia on Tuesday visited several projects funded by the Spanish government aid agency AECID in Manila, among them the Escuela Taller, which works on restoration of historic buildings in Intramuros.
She later toured the National Library, where her Royal Majesty inaugurated a photo exhibition of Spanish aid development projects in the Philippines.
Visit expected to boost investment
The Spanish Queen’s visit is expected to boost Spanish investors’ interest in the Philippines, according to the Philippine-Spanish Business Council (PHSPNBC).
“We expect more investors from Spain to take notice of the Philippines with the visit of Her Majesty, Queen Sofia. The Philippines can definitely absorb Spanish investments seeking new markets abroad,” said PHSPNBC Chairman Jose Paredes Leviste on Monday, July 2.
Leviste added that Queen Sofia’s tour of the country “is timely and important as it will develop further our bilateral relations with Spain.”
The PHSPNBC was recently set up by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry to further promote trade with Spain and help both countries withstand the impact of the European economic slump.
Opportunities for PPP
Leviste mentioned that among the opportunities available to Spanish investors in the Philippines are infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration.
A Spanish firm, Genitsa, was actually the first foreign company to have bagged a PPP contract — the P2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon extension project — in partnership with Ayala Corp.
Spanish ambassador Jorge Domecq earlier said the Philippines can particularly tap Spain’s railway companies that are known for operating modern railway networks, as the country now has the largest high-speed train network in Europe.
Spain was the Philippines’ 28th largest trading partner in 2011, with total bilateral trade amounting to $329.6 million, and the top donor to the Philippines among European countries.
About 60,000 Filipinos work in Spain, while 3,500 Spanish nationals are residents in the Philippines.
Next stop, Bicol
On Wednesday, July 4, the Queen will travel to Legaspi City in Albay province, where she will again visit a number of Spanish aid development projects in particular aimed at climate change mitigation in the disaster-prone Bicol region.
Among these projects are the Camalig school and evacuation center and the Academy for Climate Change, funded with an 18 million euro (P958-M) grant from Spain.
Later on Wednesday, the Queen will host a formal reception for part of the Spanish community in Manila.
The next day she will fly to Zamboanga City, where her schedule includes visits to various Spanish development cooperation projects and meetings with Spanish priest Angel Calvo, who has lived in Mindanao for 44 years.
On Friday, July 6, the last day of her stay in the Philippines, Queen Sofia will be back in Manila to tour the National Museum and the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest institution of higher learning in Asia. – Rappler.com
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