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Governor to visit the Philippines
The Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, will make a two-day visit to the Philippines beginning on Sunday (December 10) at the invitation of President Fidel Ramos.
It will be the first official visit to the Philippines by a Hong Kong Governor. Mr Patten will return on Tuesday night (December 12).
During his stay, Mr Patten will have a series of top level meetings with government and parliamentary leaders, including President Ramos; the President of the Philippines Senate, Mr Neptali A Gonzales; the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ernesto Maceda; and Manila's Cardinal Jaime Sin.
The Governor will be guest of honour at dinners and luncheons hosted by a number of business groups, including the Hong Kong-Philippines Business Community, the Philippines Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Subic Bay Development Authority.
Mr Patten will also visit the former United States base at Subic Bay which has now been transformed into a major enterprise zone with significant investment from Hong Kong interests.
A government spokesman pointed out that there was growing trade and investment links between the two communities.
Hong Kong was the Philippines fourth largest trading partner, with trade growing by 19 per cent a year over the past five years; and it was also the second largest source of foreign investment in the Philippines. Much of the investment was in manufacturing, telecommunications and power.
Hong Kong is also home to an estimated 140,000 Filipinos expatriate community in the territory..
the largest
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