PHL, France ink pacts on energy, culture

The Philippines and France on Friday signed agreements to cooperate on energy production and culture, as both countries committed to beef up their bilateral ties.

President Benigno Aquino III and French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault witnessed the signing of the two agreements, Malacañang said on Saturday.

Aquino cited the agreements as “affirmation of how we value the development of a more dynamic and robust partnership between our two nations.”

“This is a partnership that enjoys firm foundations,” he said.

A Declaration of Intent between the Philippine and French governments for a Study for energy production from biomass was signed by French foreign trade minister Nicole Bricq and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

The second agreement involved the Philippine Exhibition at the Musee Du Quai Branly in Paris.

"Under the Declaration of Intent, the French Government will extend a grant amounting to 372,272 euros to fund a feasibility study on rice straw as fuel to generate electricity using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology; while in the Agreement, the Philippines was chosen to be the featured country in a Grand Exhibition to showcase 300+ artifacts on pre-colonial Philippines," the Palace said in a statement.

Ayrault said his visit was “a good time to improve trust and confidence” between the two countries.

“(T)his is a good time to improve trust and confidence by investors because we do want to restore healthy exchanges both economically speaking and in terms of trade, and we would like a healthy balance of trade between our two countries,” he said.

PNoy thanks France for role in PHL devt

Meanwhile, Aquino thanked France for playing an important role in the Philippines' development.

He cited France’s Official Development Assistance mechanism.

“France has remained a partner in upholding democracy and pursuing development. I thanked the Prime Minister for the continued contribution of France to achieving our development priorities through the Official Development Assistance mechanism, particularly in the areas of Climate Change, Sustainable Urban Development, and Capacity-building Projects for Local Government Units,” Aquino said.

He added Ayrault’s visit highlighted the interest of French businesses of the country's “efforts at reform and the positive economic developments” as both leaders committed to “accelerate the pace of our economic cooperation.”

“The Prime Minister and I agreed to accelerate the pace of our economic cooperation. Part of achieving this goal is easing the barriers that impede the growth of two-way trade and investment,” Aquino added.

For his part, Ayrault lauded the strength of Aquino and the Filipino people to rise above seemingly insurmountable odds, saying this trait was shared by the people of France.

“I would also like to pay tribute to your people, Mr. President, and I would like to pay tribute to the strength of the people and to your own personal struggle for liberty, for freedom, for democracy,” Ayrault said.-Black Peark (October 20, 2012 2:37PM)