Burma is poised to reap real trade benefits from neighboring countries following its opening up process, now with the Philippines where a bilateral trade meeting to strengthen economic ties is scheduled for June.
In the past, the Philippines was one of the Asian countries most critical of Burma’s military junta prior to its moves toward democracy in 2011.
In a meeting between Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Foreign Secretary Wunna Maung Lwin in Burma on February 8 in Naypyitaw, they agreed that a Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation would meet from June 5 to 6 in Manila.
The meeting “will provide the roadmap to move relations further,” del Rosario said in an article published in Gulfnews.com on Tuesday. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said the meeting would promote trade, investment, aviation and other fields.
The visit by del Rosario to Naypyitaw brought the relations of the two countries closer. The Philippines now supports the lifting of western sanctions against Burma.
Burmese President Thein Sein has invited Philippine-based businessmen to invest in its oil and gas, agriculture, mining, forestry and timber products, development of the Dawei deep-sea port and infrastructure, del Rosario said.
