Others News
- Suspended deal won't hit Manila trade ties
Date: 28-Sep-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE government said Thursday a decision by the Philippines to suspend a controversial US$330 million national broadband project with a Shenzhen-based firm would not affect bilateral trade ties.
'The Chinese Government respects the Philippine side's decision and believes such a move will not affect bilateral trade relations,'commerce ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei said.
The Philippine project with ZTE Corp., China's second-largest telecom equipment maker, was to have set up a national broadband network for the exclusive use of the Southeast Asian nation's government and agencies.
It was suspended after allegations in the Philippine media and the country's Senate of supposed Filipino government incompetence, corruption and nepotism.
Citing an internal investigation, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said Tuesday that allegations of bribery in the broadband network project have been unsubstantiated.
In a statement before government officials in Manila, Arroyo said she suspended the broadband project 'in response to political criticism.'
She said she ordered the allegations 'discreetly investigated?and 'the results of the investigations were reported as uncorroborated.'
In a statement after the suspension announcement, ZTE said it was 'utterly disappointed.'
'ZTE is confident that the investigation will eventually clear its good name and reveal that ZTE's proposal is, in fact, superior and the most cost-efficient as well as the most advantageous to the Philippine Government and, most importantly, to the Filipino people,'it said.
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