Draft Speech of Ambassador Jesus S. Domingo 118th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence Diplomatic Reception, Te Marae, Te Papa Museum, 14 June 2016 More than forty thousand Filipinos in New Zealand making up nearly 1% of the population join our millions of countrymen in the Philippines and around the world in remembering, and celebrating with gratitude and thanksgiving what our forefathers did 118 years ago to win the Philippines’ rightful place in the community of nations and have the Filipino people’s respected voices for freedom, democracy and the rule of law heard in the councils of the world. We celebrate the 116th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence amidst the Philippines’ continued recognition as one of Asia’s newest economic success stories, a winner of several investment grade credit ratings and a favorable destination for thriving trade, tourism, investment and business. The continuing good news is very much evident when in 2015, the Philippine economy posted solid growth generated by strong domestic demand. For this year, the Philippine economy is expected to grow at 6% and will remain one of the world’s fastest growing economies. This evening’s celebration highlights fifty years of diplomatic relations, close friendship and mutually beneficial partnership between the Philippines and New Zealand. The Philippines and New Zealand are one in its shared adherence to democratic values and principles, good governance, rules based approaches, peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law, peace building and respect for human rights in the face of challenges to our regional and global environment and security. The Philippines continue to engage with New Zealand as the Philippines seeks a just and durable solution to the settlement of maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea grounded on international law and in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and compliance with universally accepted principles and processes. Throughout the years, there have been numerous high level meetings and dialogues, active exchanges of visits and broadening cooperation between government officials, business communities and other group from both countries as well as in the context of the United Nations (UN), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC), the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), and other regional and international bodies. The fruitful meeting of President Aquino and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, His Excellency John Key during the APEC Summit held in Manila in November last year underscored the two nations’ mutual commitment to strengthen our blossoming relations, particularly for economic, trade and investment cooperation. The positive developments in New Zealand’s economy and the building up of complementarity in niche areas of cooperation with the Philippines augur well for the broadening economic partnership between our two countries. The Philippines growing economic relationship with New Zealand will enable us to continue playing to our strengths and synergy bilaterally and in the context of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA). The Philippines is a very important trading partner for New Zealand as it is one of New Zealand’s top 20 goods export markets and, in 2014, the Philippines was New Zealand’s sixth largest market for dairy. The Philippines is a growing ICT export destination for New Zealand, as well as an exporter of ICT to New Zealand. Several New Zealand firms have set up back offices in the Philippines, to take advantage of larger scale, more economic operations and greater market reach. As strategic partners, Philippines-New Zealand defence relations have been steadily growing with the signing of Memorandum of Arrangement on Defence Cooperation in 2012. Our two countries Co-Chaired the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping, and will team up again for Cybersecurity starting next year. The Philippines looks forward to hosting the 3rd Philippines-New Zealand Bilateral Defense Talks this year and deeply appreciates the training for mid-level Filipino military officers in New Zealand and contributions to various Philippine National Police programs. The establishment of direct air connectivity between Philippines-New Zealand are key enablers to greater trade, investment, tourism, education, economic and people-to-people exchanges between us. As partners in the bilateral and regional arenas and given the increasing engagements with each other and the ASEAN region as well as the growing Filipino community and visitors exchange between the two countries, the Philippines and New Zealand are seeing very good opportunities and making things happen in the air services sector and are well poised to open more doors and reach new heights in our bilateral and regional relationships. New Zealand is a long standing development partner of the Philippines and its assistance in disaster risk management, agriculture and capacity building continue to help the Philippines in meeting its development challenges and accelerating its broad based inclusive economic goals. The extensive networking among the Philippines and New Zealand private sector and the presence of various New Zealand companies doing business in the Philippines in the areas of renewable energy, dairy, ICT/BPO, mining, salmon processing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, bio-technology, services, trade in other goods, tourism and immigration consultancy, education, cold storage, shipping (vessel) and ports infrastructure, construction, food and software applications augur well for the expansion of our business ties. Leveraging on the talent and expertise of the Filipinos and the Philippines’ abundant natural resources would be a strategic move for New Zealand businesses to expand their ASEAN footprint by locating in the Philippines. Filipino companies’ investments in the food and beverage sectors in New Zealand are gaining headway in bringing New Zealand’s businesses to Asia. Moreover, the implementation of the Working Holiday Scheme between the Philippines and New Zealand in February 2014 marked increase in visitor arrivals from both our countries, the opening up of educational opportunities between Filipinos and New Zealanders and the annual intake of Filipino post graduate scholars in various fields of study in New Zealand’s universities and educational institutions under the ASEAN Scholarship Awards and the Young Business Leaders Initiative which is one of New Zealand’s flagship projects with ASEAN continue to drive the dynamism of people-to-people ties that bind us. More than 1,200 students from the Philippines studied in New Zealand in 2012. A working holiday scheme between PH and NZ began in 2014 which allows 100 young New Zealanders and 100 young Filipinos to work and travel in each others' countries each year. The Philippines has the honor to serve as ASEAN Chairman next year, which will serve as a great opportunity for the Pinoy-Kiwi relationship to be a dynamic link between Southeast Asia and the Pacific. My fellow ASEAN colleagues, MFAT, as well as the NZ Asia Foundation, ASEAN-NZ Business Forum, Wellington Asia Forum, Universities led by AUT have been important partners. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a toast: To the continued well-being of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of New Zealand; To the continued success of the Government and People of New Zealand; and To the enduring friendship between the Philippines and New Zealand. Mabuhay !