Decastro used to be a veteran media person. He revealed to reporters that he had heard the broadcast of this station in his early years and learned about China through the broadcast of this station. He believes that cultural and information exchanges can enhance the understanding and feelings of the two peoples and meet various challenges. In this regard, Radio China International can play a unique role. He said: "Radio China International broadcasts in Filipino, which has built a bridge for cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Philippine peoples. Through this platform, the people of China and the Philippines can learn the news facts that happened in the two countries, some of which are not available through other media. If we further expand the exchange of information, the relationship between the Chinese and Philippine peoples will become closer and more harmonious. I always believe that all countries in the world should help each other and learn from each other, while constantly strengthening economic and cultural cooperation. " Today, I am very happy to attend the Northeast Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation High-level Forum and the 5th China Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo with you. For centuries, our two peoples have kept in touch with each other in production and trade. Today, our economic and trade relations have improved significantly, especially the total trade volume between Jilin and the Philippines increased from 36 million US dollars in 2006 to 58 million US dollars in 2008. However, this relationship still has a lot of room for development, because the trade between the Philippines and Jilin Province only accounts for 2% of the total trade volume of 28 billion US dollars between the Philippines and China.
I am glad that the advantage of Jilin Province lies in agriculture, which is an area where we can strengthen cooperation. It can promote economic and trade exchanges between agriculture and agricultural enterprises in the Philippines and Jilin Province. At the same time, I also encourage more businessmen from China and the Philippines to develop some joint ventures, whether in China, the Philippines or other parts of Asia. Let's use and develop the Asian market as soon as possible and act as soon as possible. Finally, I would like to express my firm support for Jilin Province's efforts to promote investment and trade in Northeast Asia.
China Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo will greatly promote regional cooperation. The theme of the Expo is summarized as four benefits: opportunity, communication, cooperation and development. It is a development platform in Asia, and this exposition and forum has attracted the interest of top companies and business people from all over the world. In fact, such an exposition is one of the most effective activities not only in Asia, but also in the world. I believe this initiative will be successful and will continue to make progress to promote the progress and development of the whole Asian region. Dear secretary Yu, ladies and gentlemen, good morning! First of all, I would like to thank the Ministry of People, Industry and Information Technology of China, the Executive Committee of the 20 10 China World Expo, the International Telecommunication Union and the Ningbo Municipal Government for inviting me to participate in this forum. This is my third visit to China in just one month. I think my return to China once again shows that we attach importance to the 20 10 World Expo and the friendship between China and the Philippines. I know that the organizers of the World Expo are applying information and communication technologies in various ways at this World Expo. I think for this Expo, information and communication technology not only plays a central role as a medium, but also plays a framework role in urban life and community integration around the world. I agree with all aspects of information and communication technology mentioned by the speaker just now. In our country, we just held a general election. In this general election, we also made full use of information and communication technology.
We have a sensor that allows people to vote by computer. In the Philippines, since the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) more than 100 years ago, the counting of votes in general elections has been done by hand. Voting in small constituencies will be integrated at the municipal level, then concentrated at the provincial level, and finally counted uniformly throughout the country. But all these voting, counting and concentration work are done by hand. All this changed in May 10, which was the first time that we conducted a nationwide computer-aided voting process. At first, people were suspicious because many people didn't believe that we were ready. They think that our voters are not ready to vote by computer, or there may be some "conspiracy" to vote by computer, which will subvert people's true wishes.
Some people think that this election will eventually fail and the political situation will be unstable because of computer voting. But I want to say that except for a little problem with the money counter, the whole counting process went smoothly. In the past, if it was a national election, it might take several weeks to count the votes, and at the same time it would be caught in protests and demonstrations. When I ran for vice president, I had to wait more than a week to know whether I was elected or not. This time, we counted all the results within a few hours after the voting ended. If there is a winner in the just-concluded national and local elections, I think it is the Filipino people.
I think this is also a successful example of political change brought about by the rapid development of information and communication technology. It can be said that this computerized or information-based election process has also made indelible contributions to strengthening our democratic system.
In the Philippines, we believe that the information and communication technology industry is the most dynamic and promising field. In China, the rapid development of information and communication technology and related services are mainly stimulated by two factors. One is the global changes and the opportunities they bring, and the Philippine government's support for the ICT industry.
In the past decade, the most remarkable change in the field of information and communication technology in the Philippines is the popularity of mobile phone applications. Moreover, with the continuous development of information communication system, it can better support the development environment of mobile phone business. At present, our mobile phone penetration rate has increased from 39.9 per 100 people in 2004 to almost 64.8 in 2007. And I tell you, in the process of making this speech, this number is still rising.
In addition, we not only have mobile phone users, but many Filipinos also have more than one mobile phone. In the mobile phone market, SMS service occupies a very important position. For Filipinos, texting is very common, even in rural areas, communication through SMS is also very common. Now, SMS is so widely used in the Philippines that it has become a "subculture" of SMS. In the past, we also saw the rapid development of 3G services. Many people regard mobile phones as microcomputers, cameras, music players, video players and various applications. It can be said that in the Philippine market, we have seen the integration of technologies.
In addition to access, we have achieved great success in reducing the cost of connection. Since 2004, the cost of our local Internet connection has been greatly reduced. From the original 24 pesos per hour to less than 4 pesos.
In addition, due to the development of information and communication technology, there is another booming industry in the Philippines. What I mean here is the community information center, which can provide internet connection. By 2007, more than half of the cities have Internet connection points, and the government has also established some community electronic centers to help train people's ability to use information and communication technologies and provide Internet services.
Our government's policy is to give enough attention and strong support to ICT industry and promote its strong development. In this regard, we have three major initiatives.
The first is to make our education system closer to the needs of the development of ICT industry. At present, Filipinos have seen the vigorous development of information technology-driven services, that is to say, this basic call center service has gradually become the service outsourcing of enterprise processes, which are supported by ICT services. Now the government is also vigorously supporting educational institutions to face this demand and develop their own education.
The second aspect is to vigorously promote the management of local governments and further enhance their service capabilities. In developing countries, one of the biggest challenges is the operation of government. In recent years, we have seen some exciting new developments in e-government. We believe that information and communication technology can also improve the construction of people's organizations. In the Philippines, people's organizations are potential partners of the government and are committed to common development. I believe that people's organizations and we can further improve the depth and quality of their participation in community construction projects by using information and communication technologies.
The third aspect is that we need to support projects to develop information and communication technologies. The private sector has played an important role in our development. I believe that as long as the government continues to provide necessary support and encouragement, this decision will be further expanded. I believe that with the strong support of the central government and local governments, the proper use of information and communication technology can make us have a better social life, and at the same time, it can make our city better and people can have a peaceful and fruitful lifestyle. I believe that such a grand event can bring us the future strategic development direction and guide our future development.
Dear friends, I believe that information and communication technology can greatly change our city, so we must ensure that all this becomes a reality. Thank you!