The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the four new bilateral agreements on defense, agriculture, tourism, and medicine presage strengthened economic and security cooperation between them in the next decade.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo earlier said that the two countries are particularly looking at cooperation in the business processes outsourcing, and in the emerging medical tourism sector, wherein both countries may be considered as world leaders and pioneers.

During Kalam’s fourday state visit, he also signed a defense cooperation agreement which deals on naval and maritime cooperation, counterterrorism cooperation, and closer coordination between the defense officials of both countries.

On the field of medicine, the Philippines and India have agreed to increase the Philippines’ importation of cheap medicines from India to address the increasing prices of branded medicines in the country.

Among his meetings in the Philippines were the bilateral talks with President Arroyo last Saturday, his visit to the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna during the weekend, and his address to a joint session of Congress yesterday.

Romulo welcomed Kalam’s visit, which, he said, sets the tone for follow-up bilateral discussions to be held during the Philippines’ hosting later this year of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit where India is included as a dialogue partner.

Kalam left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3:40 p.m. yesterday via a special flight bound to South Korea where he will continue his tour of Asian countries.

Kalam commits India’s full cooperation with RP

By BEN R. ROSARIO

Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam yesterday committed his country’s full cooperation in bolstering economic development in the Philippines, lining up eight areas of national development to which Indian partnership will be readily available.

Addressing the Joint Session of Congress, the visiting Indian president also cited Asia as a future center for business and offered the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, that was co-founded by the Philippines, a partnership in pursuing e-business network as an insurance for prosperity.

Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Jose de Venecia jointly welcomed Kalam and presided over the Joint Session for the Indian leader’s address.

Kalam received the Congressional Medal of Achievement from De Venecia who stressed the Indian leader’s role in the robust transformation of the world’s biggest democracy with a population of over one billion.

The Indian president became the third head of state to address the Joint Session in a span of one year. In April last year, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf addressed Filipino lawmakers.

Like Hu and Musharraf, Kalam received standing ovations from the appreciative Filipino lawmakers and the mixed crowd of Filipinos, members of the diplomatic corps, and Indian nationals in the country.

In his 31-minute address, Kalam shared India’s experiences in nationbuilding and major development programs that have pushed his country’s GDP to grow an average of seven percent in each of the last few years, one of the best performing economies in the Asian continent.

Kalam won the hearts of Filipinos during his speech when he described himself to be a fan of popular boxing hero Manny Pacquiao whom he described as a "great Filipino boxer."

He noted that India has been privileged for having the biggest number of recipients for service to society in the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

De Venecia revealed that Kalam has been appraised of the Philippines’ bid to modernize the elections.

During a brief meeting with Kalam, De Venecia and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos noted that the Philippines would be saving at least R681 million in election expenses if it adopted the Indian model in modernizing elections that would include electronic voting and electronic counting.

Kalam proposed an Indo-Philippine cooperation road map which include the following:

1. Development and marketing of knowledge products in the international market through innovation by the software specialists of India and the Philippines.

2. Facilitating the setting up of small-medium scale enterprises in the Philippines for production and marketing of farm and agri-implements needed for increasing the productivity of agricultural community.

3. Making available pharmaceutical products for Filipinos at affordable prices.

4. Assistance in the establishment of a coastal and a hill PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) in communities selected by the Philippine government.

5. Assistance in creation of cooperative structure in business lines for dairy development, animal husbandry, poultry, and marketing.

6. Assistance in energy independence.

7. Share India’s experience in modernizing the election system and in providing necessary technological tools.

8. Increase the business and trade between India and the Philippines from 7 million to billion in the next three years.

Among those who participated in the Joint Session were Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Juan Flavier, Pia Cayetano, Richard Gordon, Edgardo Angara, and Francis Pangilinan; House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles; Assistant Majority Leader Hussin Amin; Del de Guzman, Mat Defensor, Deputy Majority Leader Arthur Defensor, Minority Leader Francis Escudero, and Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar.

Meanwhile, Kalam yesterday urged students and faculty of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City to instill continuous innovation on students’ learning process through capacity building.

"To realize this, five special capacities are required to be built in the education system for nurturing students, which are research and inquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology, and entrepreneurial and moral leadership," Kalam said.

Kalam handed UP President Emerlinda Roman 15 books for students’ use. Included were his three books entitled Ignited Minds; India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium; and Wings of Fire: An Autobiography. Other books were A Brief History of Time; Quality, Reliability and Information Technology; Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology; Microbial Biotechnology; Musicmakers; Dome Over India; Guiding Souls; Rabindranath Tagore; Economic Development in South Asia; Technology Leadership; and Computing in Mathematical Modelling. (with a report by Ellalyn de Vera)