SPAIN, PH SIGNS 4-YEAR EXTENSION OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
ration and program-based aid will also be considered.
The signing of the statement also came after the Philippines–Spain Joint Commission for Technical Cooperation Meeting convened in NEDA sa Makati. The MANILA – The governments of Spain and the Philippines signed a four-year extension of development partnership with a EUR50 million grant allocation from 2014 until 2017, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan and Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Manuel García-Margallo yesterday signed the Statement of the VI Philippines-Spain Joint Commission on Development Cooperation at The Peninsula Manila Hotel, Makati City.
“This agreement is the latest in our long history of close and friendly relations towards more meaningful development cooperation,” said Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General.
Programs and projects of the grant extension are outlined in the Philippines-Spain Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Development Cooperation 2014-2017, focusing on good governance and the rule of law, and disaster risk reduction and management.
“We are honored that the Philippines is the only priority country in Asia under the Master Plan of Spanish Cooperation 2013-2016. We also appreciate the consultative approach taken by the Spanish Government in the crafting of the CPF. This approach reinforces Philippine ownership of the priorities of our cooperation in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2011 –2016,” said Balisacan.
The fund for this development cooperation will be coursed through the country’s national government agencies, multilateral cooperation through United Nations agencies, and cooperation through partnership of Spanish and Filipino non-government organizations. Additional funds for financial coopemeeting was co-chaired by NEDA Deputy Director-General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan and Head of Spain’s Development Department Cooperation with the Arab World and Asia Mr. Antonio Gonzalez-Zavala.
