Telecommunication News
- Arroyo suspends telecom deal with ZTE
Date: 24-Sep-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
PHILIPPINE President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has suspended a US$330 million telecommunications deal with Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp. after it reportedly triggered a kickbacks scandal that could rattle her government.
'I think this is the best thing to do now,'Philippine Trade Secretary Peter Favila told reporters Saturday.
Favila said Arroyo made her decision after discussions with some Cabinet members but he declined to give further details. 'Whatever reasons behind that, that's an executive privilege.'
The suspension of the agreement with ZTE Corp. to build a broadband network linking state agencies comes two days after Arroyo's Cabinet defended the contract at a senate inquiry into allegations of kickbacks in the project.
The Supreme Court had earlier stopped the implementation of the deal after it received two separate petitions to scrap the project. Favila said he had not been in contact with ZTE officials, but he had informed China's commerce ministry of the suspension.
'Minister Bo Xilai said his government understands and respects the decision of President Arroyo and will continue to support her and her programs,'presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement Saturday.
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