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Securing Regional Waters: Sri Lanka

THE 6th IISS ASIAN SECURITY SUMMIT
SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE

Singapore
Sunday 3 June 2007

SECURING REGIONAL WATERS: HOW MUCH PROGRESS?

Hon Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka

Rohitha Bogollagama

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka

It is indeed a great pleasure to be associated, representing Sri Lanka for the first time in the Shangri-La Dialogue. I must thank the Government of Singapore for the hospitality and all courtesies that have been extended to me and to my delegation.

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Securing Regional Waters: The Philippines

THE 6th IISS ASIAN SECURITY SUMMIT
SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE

Singapore
Sunday 3 June 2007

SECURING REGIONAL WATERS: HOW MUCH PROGRESS?

Hon Hermogenes E Ebdane Jr, Secretary of National Defense, The Philippines

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Securing Regional Waters: The Philippines

Hermogenes E Ebdane Jr

Secretary of National Defence, The Philippines

Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to share the Philippine viewpoint on securing regional waterways and the progress that has been made. My discussion takes into account two key ideas that impact on the topic at hand. First, our connectivity as nations because of our waterways, and second, the emerging importance of defence roles vis-?-vis development goals as evidenced by our own experience in the Philippines.

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Philippines: Bank’s real-estate exposures decline by 4.6%

MANILA — As of end-March 2007, real estate exposures of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) declined by 4.6 percent to P210.0 billion. The reduced exposure came from real estate loans (RELs) at P14.4 billion, partly offset by the P4.4 billion expansion of investments in securities issued by real estate companies.
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Philippines May inflation remains low at 2.4%

MANILA — Headline inflation in May slightly rose to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent in April, bringing the average inflation for the first five months of the year to 2.7 percent. The May inflation was within the 2.1-2.8 percent forecast range of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and was substantially lower than the 6.9 percent inflation rate posted a year ago. The minimal increase in inflation was mainly attributable to the uptick in the prices of fuel, light, and water to 4.0 percent from 2.2 percent in April. Month-on-month, inflation went up by 0.3 percent following the 0.2 percent increase in April. Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, remained steady at 2.6 percent for the third consecutive month.
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