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The Philippines is a country that has seen transformative change with the arrival of a new leader. Aquino has led an aggressive anti-corruption campaign aimed at making his country more attractive for trade and investment. But he’s also taken steps to protect the nation’s environment and resources by placing a moratorium on new mining contracts while drafting reforms to the system.

And he has taken action to address internal security concerns by recently forging a pact with a Muslim minority seeking its own autonomous region.

Harper is the first G8 leader to visit Aquino since he took office in 2010, and the first Canadian prime minister to visit the Philippines since 1997. The two countries are hoping to boost bilateral trade, which is currently a modest $1.5 billion annually.

“Now, the significance of the visit is that we keep saying that the Philippines is open for business under new management,” Aquino told reporters.

“And I think, it’s a recognition of the change of atmosphere in the Philippines that we are honoured by the presence of the Honourable Prime Minister and his delegation. We do see increased commercial trade ties between our countries. Things that hindered the development of those ties in the past, under new management it will cease to exist.”

The Philippines has become the biggest source of immigration to Canada, and Tagalog the fastest growing language.

Some in the Filipino-Canadian community had hoped that Harper would address the labour issues faced by caregivers and other foreign temporary workers who come to work in Canada. With the workers entirely dependent on sponsoring employers for their contracts, the concern is that labour abuses go unreported.