AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Arroyo invites Australian PM to Asia Pacific Migration Forum.

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be addressing the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development and the Philippine-Australian Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) in Manila this October. He will be in Manila on an invitation extended by his Philippine counterpart President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

According to a statement issued by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo on Sunday, President Arroyo had extended the invitation to Rudd following their bilateral meeting on Saturday afternoon at the Asia Hotel in Beijing.

The statement says the President has invited Prime Minister Rudd to address the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development. “We are going to have also our Philippine-Australian Ministerial Meeting in October and they both agreed that this would be a good time for PM Rudd to visit the Philippines, " Romulo said.

He further stated that the foreign office officials of both countries will work out an appropriate arrangement for Rudd’s trip to the Philippines so that it coincides with the holding of the forum on migration and the PAMM.

The forum is a good opportunity to tackle immigration issues between the Philippines and Australia and ensure that the interests and welfare of both sides will be respected and protected, Romulo said.

An estimated 200,000 Filipinos, most of whom are professionals such as engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and business people, are living in Australia.

"So it will be an opportune time for Australia to be in the 2nd global forum in as much as this meeting (concerns) both the sending and receiving countries," he said.

He also said that Arroyo and Rudd would explore ways and means to advance the interests of both the Philippines and Australia in the region.

Australia is one of the Philippines' major sources of development assistance. From A$68 million, Australia's official development assistance (ODA) to the Philippines has doubled to A$120-A$140 million.

Its development assistance has been of "great help to our many projects, including those in southern Mindanao," Romulo said.

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