Philippines hopes to strike gold with foreign partners By luring global investors, the country aims to make the mining sector the key growth engine, writes Raissa Robles.

(From South China Morning Post)

Manila's recent mining forum, which reaffirmed pledges for US$2.95 billion worth of industry-related projects, has put the Philippines back on the foreign investor map.

Whether it stays there depends on the government's political will, fiscal and political stability, capacity to harness popular support for mining and curb corrupt practices, as well as protect investors from internal threats, participants say.

With such sizeable pledges, the cash-starved government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has gone into overdrive to make mining the keystone for solving its fiscal crisis and lifting 57 million of its 82 million people out of poverty.

However, turning mining into the …