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Arroyo Seeks Stronger Trade and Defense Ties with Brunei
MANILA, Aug 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday said she desired stronger trade relations and defense ties with Brunei, the Muslim sultanate located on the island of Borneo.
Arroyo said she would hold talks with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to seek his leading role in reviving a plan to integrate the economies of the contiguous areas of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Businessmen from Mindanao urged leaders of these countries to bring in necessary financing and logistic support to help develop the war-torn area.
A caucus called the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area- (BIMP-EAGA) was active during the 1990s but suffered dearly after the 1997 financial crisis in the Southeast Asia.
It helped develop business deals between country members and was a linchpin for development projects in Mindanao.
Arroyo is currently seeking joint efforts to boost the BIMP-EAGA in a bid to alleviate economic problems in the region.
Arroyo's main aim, however, is to secure a deal with the Brunei sultanate on military matters. The Philippines intend to put an end to arms contraband affecting security in the country. She also intends to put a halt to arms deals that could benefit Muslims and the Abu Sayyaf.
Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes signed an agreement on Wednesday for defense cooperation with Bolkiah, also the sultanate's defense minister.
The agreement calls for military personnel training and war games between the armed forces of the two countries.
Reyes said Brunei was the fifth member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to have a defense agreement with the Philippines.
The agreement also covers exchanges of defense personnel, information on security and defense issues, technical information on defense products, research and development of defense products, and exchange of visits of defense officials and personnel, he added.
Reyes said implementation of the agreement will be monitored by a joint committee to be co-chaired by Philippine and Brunei defense officials. The committee shall meet alternately once a year in the Philippines and Brunei, he added.
"We had no formal defense cooperation agreement [with Brunei] before this," Reyes told reporters.
However, Reyes said the Philippines has a defense attaché assigned at the Philippine Embassy in Brunei, Air Force Col. Christopher Rodriguez.
"We have had a defense attaché here since 1990," he said. "But up to now, Brunei has to set up their own defense attaché post in the Philippines."
Arroyo also agreed with Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri that the two nations would cooperate to try and end the influx of arms along their borders. She said that bandits in the Philippines were buying arms in the form of contraband.
Arroyo is also due to visit port facilities and petroleum fields in Brunei, a key oil producer and the world's fourth-largest producer of liquefied petroleum gas.
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
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