菲律賓邀請(qǐng)中國(guó)企業(yè)進(jìn)入其電信市場(chǎng)

The Philippines has invited a Chinese group to set up its third major telecoms company, in a move that would end a long-running duopoly in the sector and mark a further diplomatic and commercial pivot by Manila towards Beijing.

菲律賓已邀請(qǐng)一家中國(guó)企業(yè)在菲設(shè)立電信公司，該公司將成為菲律賓第三家大型電信公司，結(jié)束該國(guó)電信業(yè)長(zhǎng)期的雙頭壟斷局面，并標(biāo)志著馬尼拉在外交和商業(yè)方面進(jìn)一步轉(zhuǎn)向北京。

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made the offer last week to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as the two men presided over the signing of more than a dozen bilateral agreements between the two countries, Mr Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said on Monday.

菲律賓總統(tǒng)羅德里戈•杜特爾特(Rodrigo Duterte)的發(fā)言人哈里•洛克(Harry Roque)周一表示，杜特爾特是在上周與中國(guó)總理李克強(qiáng)主持簽署十多份雙邊協(xié)議的時(shí)候提出上述邀約的。

“During the bilateral talks between President Duterte and the Chinese premier, President Duterte offered to the People’s Republic of China the privilege to operate the third telecoms carrier in the country,” Mr Roque said.

洛克表示：“在杜特爾特總統(tǒng)與李克強(qiáng)總理的雙邊會(huì)談期間，杜特爾特向中華人民共和國(guó)提供了在菲運(yùn)營(yíng)第三家電信運(yùn)營(yíng)商的特權(quán)。”

The offer to China was made, Mr Roque said, on the same day that the Philippine government signed a deal with a subsidiary of Facebook to build an ultra high-speed broadband backbone on Luzon, the country’s most populous island, where its capital and largest city Manila is located.

洛克說(shuō)，在向中國(guó)發(fā)出邀約的同一天，菲律賓政府與Facebook子公司簽署了在呂宋島建設(shè)超高速寬帶主干網(wǎng)的協(xié)議。呂宋島是菲律賓人口最多的島嶼，該最大城市、首都馬尼拉就位于該島。

The project, called the Luzon Bypass of the Pacific Light Cable Network, will provide bandwidth of two terabytes per second, Mr Roque said — equivalent to the kind of capacity offered by the Philippines’ two operators today. The project is due to come online in 2019.

洛克表示，“太平洋光纖電纜網(wǎng)絡(luò)呂宋島支路”項(xiàng)目將提供每秒2太字節(jié)(TB)的帶寬——相當(dāng)于目前菲律賓兩家運(yùn)營(yíng)商提供的帶寬之和。預(yù)計(jì)該項(xiàng)目將于2019年上線。

Filipinos have long complained about slow and expensive phone and internet services, which are seen as obstacles to business in an economy with a large “offshoring” sector, which grew at an annual rate of 6.9 per cent in the most recent quarter — one of the fastest in Asia.

長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，菲律賓人一直抱怨手機(jī)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)速度慢且昂貴，這在一個(gè)擁有龐大“離岸”行業(yè)的經(jīng)濟(jì)體中被視為企業(yè)的障礙。菲律賓在最近一個(gè)季度里的年化經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)率為6.9%，是亞洲增速最快的經(jīng)濟(jì)體之一。

Mr Roque said, in remarks quoted by the Rappler news website, that the Philippine government was waiting for Chinese telecoms companies to submit their proposals, and that the government would take 45 days to determine whether to accept them.

據(jù)Rappler新聞網(wǎng)站引述，洛克表示，菲律賓政府正等待中國(guó)的電信企業(yè)提交建議書，而菲政府會(huì)在45天內(nèi)決定是否接受。

“This is the latest instance of the president proving he has the political will to do what is necessary to benefit the Filipino people,” Mr Roque said. “The telecoms duopoly is about to end.”

洛克表示：“這是總統(tǒng)證明自己有政治意愿采取必要措施讓菲律賓人民受惠的最新例子。電信雙頭壟斷即將畫上句號(hào)。”

The Philippines’ two big telecoms providers are PLDT-Smart, controlled by former monopolist PLDT, and Globe Telecom, whose main shareholders are the Philippine group Ayala and Singapore’s Singtel.

目前菲律賓有兩大電信供應(yīng)商，一家是由前壟斷集團(tuán)菲律賓長(zhǎng)途電話公司(PLDT)控制的PLDT-Smart，另一家是Globe Telecom，其主要股東是菲律賓的阿亞拉集團(tuán)(Ayala)和新加坡電信(Singtel)。

A provision of the country’s constitution caps foreign ownership of companies in sectors deemed strategic, but Mr Duterte’s government is considering amending it to open the way to more foreign investment.

菲律賓憲法規(guī)定了外國(guó)公司在被視為戰(zhàn)略性行業(yè)的企業(yè)中的最高持股比例，但杜特爾特政府正在考慮對(duì)其進(jìn)行修改，從而為吸引更多外國(guó)投資鋪平道路。

China’s biggest foray until now into the Philippines’ telecoms sector was a broadband deal involving Chinese company ZTE, which prompted a scandal that engulfed the administration of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who cancelled it in 2007 after the alleged irregularities surfaced.

中國(guó)迄今進(jìn)入菲律賓電信行業(yè)的最大嘗試是一項(xiàng)涉及中國(guó)公司中興通訊(ZTE)的寬帶交易，該交易引發(fā)了一樁丑聞，嚴(yán)重影響到了當(dāng)時(shí)的總統(tǒng)洛麗亞•馬卡帕加爾•阿羅約(Gloria Macapagal Arroyo)的政府。該交易在被曝出違規(guī)后，于2007年被阿羅約政府取消。

Mr Duterte, a populist in the mould of Donald Trump, has seen his popularity slip since his election last July, but he still enjoys the support of about two-thirds of Filipinos.

與唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)如出一轍的民粹主義者杜特爾特去年7月當(dāng)選為總統(tǒng)，如今他的支持率下降，但仍有大約三分之二的菲律賓人支持他。

In a bid to tilt the Philippines away from its traditional reliance on the US, the country’s former coloniser and main ally, Mr Duterte has been actively courting closer ties with China, Russia and Japan.

為了使菲律賓減少傳統(tǒng)上對(duì)美國(guó)的依賴，杜特爾特一直在積極地與中國(guó)、俄羅斯和日本建立更密切的關(guān)系。美國(guó)曾經(jīng)殖民過(guò)菲律賓，也是其主要盟友。

Last week’s 14 commercial agreements signed by the Philippine and Chinese leaders included pacts on technical co-operation, infrastructure and Chinese underwriting for renminbi-denominated bonds. The two countries agreed to move ahead with a debut $200m “Panda bond”.

上周，菲律賓和中國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人簽署了14項(xiàng)商業(yè)協(xié)議，其中包括關(guān)于技術(shù)合作、基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施和中方承銷人民幣計(jì)價(jià)債券的協(xié)定。兩國(guó)同意推進(jìn)首次發(fā)行2億美元“熊貓債券”的工作。

Separately, the Philippine government signed nine bilateral agreements with Russia on November 14, at the tail-end of last week’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

另外，11月14日，在上周東盟(ASEAN)峰會(huì)臨近結(jié)束時(shí)，菲律賓政府與俄羅斯簽署了9項(xiàng)雙邊協(xié)定。