 I'm Ernie Bauer, Senior Advisor and Director of the Southeast Asia Program here at CSIS, and I'd like to welcome our special guest today, the Secretary of Finance of the Philippines and a good friend, Cesar París, and a welcome. Thank you, Ernie. You're here for the IMF World Bank meetings, is that right? I'm all others. Okay. Look, there's some really exciting things happening in the Philippines these days, and I'm not sure our business community, our policy community is aware of it. Could you tell us some of the key thrusts that are happening in the Philippines right now? Well, we're definitely very excited because for once we have a president that has a mandate, that has the credibility, and was elected with the largest mandate ever of a Philippine president, and therefore doesn't have the handicap of a previous Philippine president. And here's a very simple agenda. He wants to make sure that we reduce poverty in the Philippines, that every Filipino gets an opportunity to actualize their dreams. And to do that, he wants to increase the growth rate of the Philippines, bring it to a higher level. Very few people know, Ernie, that the Philippines has had 51 continuous quarters of growth since the Asian crisis, even through the global economic crisis, but our challenge is that our population is also growing rapidly, averaging around 2.1 to 2.2 percent. And therefore we must grow on average at least 6 to 7 percent, and that's a challenge. And to grow at that rate, we need to address the things that has held us back. And if you want me to go through it, Ernie. I think it would be really good, because I think the issue that people had about the Philippines, there was a question about governance. There was a question about being able to invest and really carry forward. Are you addressing that with your team? Well, that's what President Kino wants to address, the three things. Of course, there are others, but the three major ones are governance and corruption, infrastructure, gap and lack in some cases, and some policies that are really misdirected. On governance, his election, I think, has been a very big step. Obviously, the fight against corruption won't be one big event or one big case. It will be a journey. But we've already started the journey, we've pointed the right direction. In fact, on my part of that process, we file the cases every week against tax evaders, against mugglers, against corrupt government officials. And we just now have to work with our court system to make sure that these people are given a fair trial, and if guilty, are convicted. The second is infrastructure. We live in a very global environment where national boundaries are blurring, where the important thing is to be part of a global supply chain of products. And to be part of that, you must have the right infrastructure. And our infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Third is the policies. So you may have the right infrastructure, but if your policies are inward looking, then again, you won't be able to participate completely. It sounds very good. I think the framework that you've developed is terrific. What are three or four areas where American investors, American companies, would be welcome to participate as you go on this journey? Well, first, Ernie, I'd like to remind everyone that the Philippines and the U.S. of us have a very special historical relationship. And we'd like to nurture that into the future. Very few people know that we were a former colony, almost became a state of the U.S. But the feeling, the goodwill in the Philippines for the U.S. is very deep. There's lots of opportunities for American companies. On infrastructure, President Aquino has launched a very ambitious, private public partnership. Focus on building infrastructure in transportation, in energy, in food supply chain. All designed to make us more competitive. We've rationalized the process so that it is more transparent, that it's all through bidding. And that the terms and the sharing of the risk between the public and the private sector is done with assistance of international and unknown consultants who can actually properly advise us to make sure that it's through win-win. So will you take unsolicited bids or will you actually propose or have solicited bids where you say, look, this is what we need and come in and invest? The preference is solicited because it's more transparent. And this is a big change from the past. Although we will also welcome unsolicited that offer or bring unique technologies. But that would be the exception rather than the rule. The other thing that we're going to change is the approval process. President Aquino is guaranteeing six months approval for projects that are properly bidded out and that documentation is complete. The other thing that has changed is the financing environment. The depth of the PESO market, especially on the longer end, has dramatically improved. So infrastructure investments can partly be funded in PESOs so that there's better matching now of the revenue and the cost. The Americans are getting back on the front foot on trade with this Trans-Pacific Partnership. A lot of people ask, would the Philippines join TPP? What's the answer? Well, President Aquino, our Secretary of Trade, has indicated that we are definitely interested. It's obviously not just up to us, it's up to the members of the TPP agro-pation. We believe there are requirements. The Philippines is committed to addressing some of the issues that have been raised. We believe in free trade. That's been shown by the impact of our overseas workers in our economy, the impact of our electronics industry that produces over 10% of the world's semiconductors, our BPO industry, which is now second. And in fact, in several categories, the best in the world. It's grown from nothing. Twelve years ago, an industry that contributes over $10 billion in value to our country. Well, I have to say, we're really excited about the new team led by you and the President. And we're honored that you'd spend some time talking to us about it today. Thank you for joining us here today. Well, yeah, thank you, Ernie, for giving me this opportunity. And I'd like to invite everyone to come visit us. We're just there in the South China Sea and the Pacific. And the other edge of the remote fire across the Pacific is just one slip away. So do come visit. Thank you very much. OK, thank you, Ernie. Thanks. Thank you.