20 December 2005 – Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Administration Franklin M. Ebdalin welcomed the first major investment of Iran, a joint venture worth US$100 million, in the Philippine petrochemicals sector as he invited Iran to consider investing in other sectors such as shipbuilding and ship repair in Mindanao.

Undersecretary Ebdalin headed the Philippine delegation composed of Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Norberto R. Basilio, Director Alex V. Lamadrid and Philippine Chargé d’Affaires, a. i. (CDA) in Tehran Renato Dueñas.

The Philippine delegation held bilateral talks on 13 December 2005 in Tehran with Mr. Mehdi Safari, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia Pacific and Commonwealth of Independent State Affairs, who led the Iranian delegation composed of Amb. Nematollah Izadi, Director General for East Asia and Pacific, and Mr. Mehdi Honardoost, Director of the First East Asia Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Both sides characterized RP-Iran bilateral relations as excellent, with no contentious issues between them.

On economic cooperation, both sides agreed that there was room for further expansion of bilateral trade and investment, Undersecretary Ebdalin said.

While total bilateral trade reached more than US$800 million in 2004, the Philippine delegation noted that most of this was due to Iran’s oil exports to the Philippines. The Philippine delegation urged Iran to consider sourcing consumer products from the Philippines in order to redress the trade imbalance, and welcomed the substantial increase in Iran’s imports of bananas from the Philippines.

The Philippine side welcomed Iran’s first major investment in the Philippines in the petrochemicals sector.  Iran’s Deputy Petroleum Minister Gholamreza Nematzadeh visited the Philippines recently to witness the signing of the US$100 million petrochemicals joint venture agreement.

The Philippines also urged Iran to consider investing in other sectors, such as shipbuilding and ship repair in Mindanao.

The two sides had a fruitful exchange of views on cooperation in the UN and other international organizations, including the issues of human rights, campaign against terrorism, and peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Philippines expressed its appreciation for Iran’s staunch support to the Philippine bid for Observer status in the OIC.

At the end of the consultations, the two sides signed the Agreed Minutes and initialed the draft agreements on consular consultations, cultural exchanges, and tourism cooperation.

The Philippine delegation likewise paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.  FM Mottaki requested the Philippine delegation to convey his invitation for Secretary Alberto Romulo to visit  Iran in the near future.  END
 

/bjg