I
( J)
PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP,
AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, HIS EXCELLENCY MR
FIDEL RAMOS, JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE, PARLIAMENT HOUSE,
CANBERRA, 22 AUGUST 1995
E& OE PROOF COPY
PMV: Well can I just say a few words by way of introduction. Firstly, how
delighted I am to see the President in Australia. I thank him, sincerely,
for coming, for showing this interest in the bilateral relationship, for
spending so much time in Australia and seeking to learn more about
this country and define the relevance in the relationship between the
two of us. We very greatly appreciate the visit and his conscientious
effort in it. During the course of our discussions this morning, we have
had a talk around the issues which are of interest to us and which we
have in common. Of course, the, if you like, stewardship of the region
in which we live. We are all bound by the Pacific Ocean, we're Pacific
countries and we have that community of interest. Of course the
President and I have been part of the founding group of APEC and we
both were at the Bogor summit meeting in Indonesia last year. We will
be attending the Osaka meeting of APEC this year where the action
plan we hope will be advanced coming from the Bogor Declaration
and, of course, many of you will know that the meeting the following
year will be in the Philippines, under the stewardship of the President.
So we have both a direct and active interest in this issue and I think we
are, let's say, quietly excited about the prospect of putting a Pacific
Rim organisation together with free trade objectives that advance
intercommunal trade and the movement of people that will go with it.
In other words, building a comprehensive and effective regional
economy which also has its own natural strategic value and
people-to-people values as well. So we have that between us. On the
bilateral relationship, I think we see us having a growing bilateral
relationship. The Philippines is a country of just on 70 million people,
it is a member of ASEAN, it provides a lot of the weight in ASEAN, and
I think it is true to say Australia has not done enough with the
Philippines. We are finding together that we have things in common
and the President and I, 1 think, are committed to advancing those
things both by way of investment, by trade, tourism, etc. We are, of
course, democracies. We have very similar cultural and democratic
values and the President and I think that this is something we bring to
the Asia Pacific area and something we can be proud to proselytise
about. So we have had. I will round up my remarks on this, a
discussion about the bilateral relationship, about the multilateral
relationship in the region. our relations with other countries in the
region and a commitment by both of us to see us do more together,
country to country. Could I conclude, again, by saying how pleased I
am to see the President in Australia on such an extended visit and
invite him to make some remarks to you.
FR: Thank you, Mr Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, firstly let me
express the deep appreciation of the Philippines Government and our
people for this opportunity to visit Australia on the invitation of
His Excellency Governor General Bill Hayden and Prime Minister
Paul Keating. The relationship between the Philippines and Australia
goes a long, long way back, even before World War 11. But that
relationship, of course, has been strengthened and reinforced by our
common defence of freedom and democracy in our part of the world.
Maybe not too many Australians now remember the very valuable
contribution of Australia to the liberation of the Philippines under
General Macarthur in late 1944 up to Victory in the Pacific in
August 1945, but the record is there. And I am here to express the
appreciation of our people for that very valuable contribution on the
part of the Australian people. Of course our relationship is reinforced
by our bilateral relations in this contemporary age, cooperation in trade
investment, but beyond the economic and material aspects, we also
have continuing and deep cooperation in education, in health, in
environmental protection and in human resource development. All this
within our bilateral framework as well as within the larger framework of
APEC and between us and itself, which the Philippines is a founding
member and Australia and New Zealand. We have discovered during
this visit that aside from the longitudinal, or north-south, kind of flow
that we can create an even more beneficial relationship between
Australia, the Philippines and the rest of ASEAN through a lateral or a
latitudinal flow which we hope to develop some more. For instance,
the Philippines pioneered together with Brunei, Indonesia and
Malaysia the establishment of the East ASEAN growth area and we
see now that the Northern Territory of Australia has become a very
active player in that almost borderless kind of an economy and this
has to do not only with trade investment, environmental protection,
forestry, but also tourism, education and sports. Mrs Ramos, in fact, is
President of the Philippines Badminton Association and part of
the Philippines Olympic Committee is now meeting with your sports
leaders to create a new momentum between the Philippines and
Australian sports. Australia being recognised as part of the world
leaders in physical fitness and sports development. We are also
looking at the APEC meetings together as neighbours. The one in
Osaka in 1995 and, of course, the one that we will host in the
Philippines some time in November or December 1996. And already
there are projects and programs being put on the ground in the
Philippines which are the result of Phi lippine/ Australian initiatives
during our first leaders summit at Blake Island in Seattle in November
1993. Australia supported the proposal of the Philippines for
something tangible on the ground to be put in by APEC and this will be
a Centre for the transfer of technology for small and medium
enterprises. We have broken ground in the community of Los Banos,
which is a college town in the Philippines south of Manila, for this
Centre and by mid-1996 this should be an ongoing concern for the
benefit of the 18 member economies of APEC with the more advanced
countries like Australia contributing to the fund of knowledge for the
developing countries like the Philippines in small and medium
enterprises, upon which the economy of Australia has been founded
from the very beginning. All in all I would like to assess that so far, up
to this point, this visit has been most productive. We are just about
two-thirds finished with it, but we are seeing even more opportunities
as we move on to Brisbane, Queensland, tomorrow and eventually to
Darwin, which is so close to the Philippines that you might say Darwin
is mid-way between Manila and Sydney and so we thank you
Mr Prime Minister for all the hospitality, all the support, all the
cooperation and I am sure that all of this will lead down to great mutual
benefit between our two peoples.
PM: Thank you, President. Thank you very much for those sentiments.
I am happy to take questions.
J: inaudible
PM: Well the President and I had a quite extensive discussion on this topic
this morning. I think that this is a theme we have been over at other
times when we have met, perhaps not as well defined as the President
has defined it in the last day or two. I think Australia sees itself having
a strong partnership with the countries of ASEAN. Particularly the
countries which like Australia are not a part of continental Asia
Indonesia, the Philippines, etc and we think that there is some value
in some more formal commercial links between Australia, and New
Zealand can I say, and the ASEAN group of countries and this can
perhaps most obviously come through AFTA, some linkage between
Australia and New Zealand and AFTA, and I think if we get that
commercial linkage going then the natural strategic linkages come, in
a sense, with it. In North Asia though there are very big economies
and societies Japan, the second largest economy in the world, China,
the largest emerging economy, the largest nation in the world in a
sense, they stand in their own right. The rest of us, being smaller, can
have quite a large economy of influence by doing things together and I
think these sentiments, which the President has expressed, fall on very
fertile ground here in Australia. That is, there is, I think, the possibility
of creating a South East Asian regional economy and group of
countries and community with a very clear community of interest which
is not part of the orbit of Japan, or China, or the United States, or any
of the great powers. But a regional economy in which we all share and
benefit.
J: Mr President, you have spoken of Australia and the Philippines as both
being democracies in Asia. Do you think [ inaudible]?
I
FIR: I do not think it would be necessary for any nation to curtail its
democracy or democratic system or culture in order to accommodate
with the rest of the countries in the Asia Pacific. I think the trend now,
under this freer world trading regime. is for countries to become more
transparent, for the economic environment to be more level and fair
and predictable, and this is where we are in the Philippines and.
I would say, also Australia. I think that in the end, and we are seeing
this already in Taiwan and also the Republic of Korea, that it will be
the freer, the more transparent and the more predictable kind of
regimes that will predominate. If I may amplify on my proposals about
Australia, the Philippines, ASEAN itself, being effective,
counter-veiling, or counter-balancing, forces in our part of the world.
This is not to say that I favour a military or a defence alliance.
No, there is no way that it could be that way. But the combined
economic clout and influence of countries like Australia, New Zealand,
all of ASEAN, must eventually C-10 as we call it in the Philippines
and in the rest of Asia, meaning the ten countries of South East Asia,
to include Cambodia, Laos and Myamar could exert great effective
moral-suasion over the big powers in the Asia Pacific to the extent that
there would be no unpredictable happenings, no sudden shocks, that
would threaten the stability of the Asia Pacific. Afterall, it is the
stability and the peace that continue to reign in this region that ensures
our dynamic economic growth and our social cohesion. So this is the
road that I see for countries like Australia and the Philippines and Asia
being the middle forces the moderating forces in our part of the
world.
J: Mr President, you clearly see Australia as playing a role in the region.
But other countries in Asia, most notably Malaysia, has some problem
with Australia playing a greater role. Why do you think they have that
problem with Australia and what is your view of Australia's overall
position in Asia? Are we Asian, are we on the fringes, where do you
see us?
FIR: Well the Philippines itself has no problems with any of its neighbours
in the Asia Pacific and around the world in fact. I do believe that in the
end, really not too far from now in terms of years, that everyone will
come around to seeing that the most important condition that we must
all try to attain is inter-dependence, mutual support and
accommodation. There is no question that our cultures, our histories,
our societies are uniquely different from each other. But there is
enough room, there is enough benefit in the world, for each one to
enjoy. I have said it in the past, I have said it here in Australia, I said it
over in New Zealand, that what is more important about becoming, or
being a part of Asia, or Asia Pacific to be more specific about it, is just
to be there, just to do what you have to do. And this must be a
two-way kind of thing Australia to Asia-Pacific and the rest of us in
Asia-Pacific to Australia. Let's just do it. Let's not be tied in with
labels, intentions and proposals. Let's just be there, let's just do it.
J: Do you see that role being emphasised through APEC and, if that's so,
how happy are you with the preparations for Osaka?
FR: Yes, well, APEC is a very important forum and it has proven to be
effective since it was organised on the proposal of Australia back in
1989. The ASEAN regional forum is another important venue for really
ensuring the stability of our region and the AFTA is another framework
that provides beneficial opportunities for everyone. Certainly, if
Australia and New Zealand. through the CER, come into that
framework for freer trade, we, in the Philippines, would welcome that.
PM: I think we might have one more question, because I know that the
President will be addressing the Press Club, which will give you an
opportunity to invite other questions, so perhaps one from the other
Philippines side if there is one.
J: Can you just summarise your points of discussion?
FR: Yes, first we talked about our bilateral relations which have always
been very good and new opportunities for reinforcing the bilateral
relationship, especially in regard to the people-to-people kind of thing
education, tourism, small and medium enterprises, social development
and values, forms for personal interaction among ordinary people.
We also, of course, reviewed our regional situation under the
framework of APEC, the ASEAN regional forum, as well as new
opportunities for increasing trade investment, tourism, other forms of
economic and educational cooperation.
J: Prime Minister, did you talk about nuclear testing by France and
China?
PM: We did. We discussed that and I think the President and I agreed on
this point. That is, one, that the countries of the South Pacific should
be respected, the small island states particularly and, secondly, runs
counter to the non-proliferation objectives of the rest of the world for a
major power and a major democracy to be, in a sense, flouting those
objectives with a testing program and the same is true, of course, of
China. I think we were, I can say, happily at one on this point.
J: Prime Minister, on another matter closer to home if I may, [ inaudible]?
PM: Well I think he is doing a press conference today and I think courtesy
would demand that I let him speak for himself. Thank you very much
indeed.
FR: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. See you in the next one,
at the Press Club.
ends