The Philippines is seeking opportunities for cooperation with central China's Hubei Province, said visiting Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday.

"Philippine enterprisers were keen to cooperate with Chinese companies," said Arroyo in a meeting with Hubei Province Governor Li Hongzhong.

She welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest in the Philippines and called for closer economic and trade cooperation between her country and Hubei Province, which was famous for its automobile industry.

"We hope to increase the export of nickel, copper, auto parts and tropical fruits to China."

She said the two sides could enhance cooperation in such fields as automobile manufacturing, food, apparel, agriculture and electronics industry.

In response, Hubei government will also send delegations to visit the Philippines next year. By then, the enterprisers of the two countries from the fields of automobile, agriculture and high-tech will have face-to-face discussions, according to Li.

Arroyo left Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, for Beijing on Thursday afternoon to attend the seventh summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) scheduled for October 24-25.

The entourage of the president included more than 150 representatives from its government and business circles

According to statistics, the trade volume of Hubei's export to the Philippines rose 12 percent year on year to US$56.31 million, and the import rose 77 percent year on year to US$47 million in 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2008)