Germany
The World Bank has dismissed the claim for compensation from the Philippine government over the Naia Terminal 3 project of Germany’s Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide (Fraport)
Federal Minister for Commerce, Humayun Akhtar Khan met with Dr Bernd Pfaffenbach, State Secretary of German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology here today. During the meeting they exchanged views on bilateral trade and issues related to free trade agreement.
"We will most probably see a swifter resolution of the FTA talks, compared with the Korea-US FTA, since there are less sensitivity issues between the two sides," Jurgen Wohler, secretary general of the Korea-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said. He added that it would be satisfactory if the Korea-EU FTA is agreed upon on a similar level to the KORUS FTA.
Last week, representatives from both governments met in Port of Spain to conclude the negotiations for a bilateral treaty for the encouragement and mutual promotion of investments.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) yesterday asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision allowing the government to take over Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) only after payment of an initial P3.002 billion to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO) representing the proffered value of the facilities.
Pakistan has asked the United States to sign the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) by dropping its demand that in case of an arbitration only the Washington based International Centre for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID) should be approached for a decision.
An agreement on the protection and promotion of investments between Bahrain and Germany is due to be signed "very soon". Germany is also pushing for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the GCC.
Fraport AG of Germany has decided to flex its diplomatic muscle in pressing for immediate compensation from the Philippine government for their investment in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Passenger Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) project, under the 1997 Philippine-German bilateral investment treaty.
