PARTNERSHIP. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian during his visit to Catanduanes province on Sunday (July 2, 2023). Huang also visited Albay province and went to an evacuation center in Guinobatan town. (Photo from Catanduanes Tourism Facebook Page)
LEGAZPI CITY – Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian visited the Bicol region, particularly Catanduanes and Albay provinces, over the weekend and discussed possible collaboration on potential projects with local officials.
Catanduanes Governor Joseph Cua lauded the ambassador for the visit which was intended to support the province's infrastructure projects.
“It is with the recognition of a tiger nation as China that an island like ours may prosper even more. We hope that in the spirit of unity, we cooperate in mutual prosperity,” Cua said in a Facebook post on Monday.
He said the province is focused on establishing industrial and tourism zones to increase employment, highlighting the island’s cheap labor, low rentals, tax holidays and natural beauty as its strengths.
Carmel Garcia, Catanduanes tourism operations officer, in an interview said the ambassador expressed hopes of including Catanduanes in the "bucket list" of destinations for Chinese people.
"During his visit on Sunday, I presented to him the top five foreign tourists market of Catanduanes. The ambassador hopes that in the near future, China will be included in the top five tourism foreign markets," Garcia said.
Currently, she said their top five tourism market are Australia, the United States of America (USA), Russia, the United Kingdom (UK) and Belgium.
Garcia said China and Catanduanes' future collaborations will bring a great impact on the tourism industry of the province.
"Aside from that, we will have Chinese tourists, which will create employment. The economy will get a boost and with their experience, they will promote the island to their people," Garcia said.
During the visit, Huang noted that some of the infrastructure projects may be prioritized for aligning with the agreements reached between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and President Xi Jinping earlier this year which cover four areas of cooperation: agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and people-to-people exchanges.
"All the priority projects, you know, happen to be the strength of Chinese partners. Infrastructure, shipbuilding, solar energy, disaster management… I think we have a lot to share to learn from each other in all these fields. I hope that we have more chance to discuss and I hope we find some partners in China that they will [invest in] all these projects," he said.
Meanwhile, Albay Governor Edcel Grex Lagman thanked the ambassador for his visit and the assistance provided to the Mayon-affected families.
Huang also visited an evacuation center in Guinobatan town.
"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador Huang, for your commitment to helping Albay with respect to two staples of my administration’s five-point agenda -- tourism and digitalization. I will work together with Provincial Tourism Cultures Affairs Office chief Dorothy Colle to undertake a comprehensive study on how to simplify the process of issuing Philippine arrival visas to chartered planes coming from China that will arrive at the Bicol International Airport (BIA) with the help of the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Tourism," Lagman said.
Lorena Quising, Albay provincial information officer, said in a separate interview that the Chinese ambassador vowed to continue providing assistance to the people of Albay.
"During the meeting with Albay Governor Lagman and other officials, Huang said they are communicating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the rapid delivery of their assistance to those affected by the Mayon Volcano," Quising said.
A Chinese Navy vessel is scheduled to arrive in Albay, carrying additional aid from the People's Republic of China (PRC).
China first sent aid to Albay last week, including 4,102 sacks of rice, 100 boxes of rice, 50 boxes of flour, 20 boxes of crackers/flavored biscuits and 30 boxes of beef/chicken noodles, among others.
The said donation with a total amount of PHP4 million was immediately distributed to the local government units affected by Mt. Mayon's volcanic activities. (PNA)
