Seoul, South Korea --- The South Korean government will share with the Philippines its experience in providing mass housing for lower-income families.
In a meeting Monday with Minister Kwon Do-Youp, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay expressed his hope that South Korea's experience will help the Philippine government address local housing issues.
Binay is chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.
"We are interested in finding out your policies on housing finance. The Philippines is also determined to provide decent housing for informal settlers," Binay said.
For his part, Kwon assured the Vice President that they would be sharing with the Philippines South Korea's housing policies and programs. He also said an agency official will meet with Philippine Ambassador to Seoul Luis Cruz for a detailed briefing.
Kwon is the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. Housing is among the ministry's concerns.
The Vice President told the Korean Minister that the Philippines faces a housing backlog of 3.6 million homes. While government has constructed some 400,000 homes in the last two years, recent calamities have rendered thousands of people homeless.
"Our President has given clear instructions to provide homes for the calamity victims and relocate informal settlers living in danger zones. Those are among our priorities" he said.
Kwon assured the Vice President of assistance from his agency.
"We have existing relations between Philippines and South Korea. We hope (the Vice President's) visit will further develop bilateral relations," Kwon said.
Binay is in Seoul to attend the 2nd Nuclear Security Summit as representative of President Benigno Aquino III.
He met Sunday with Overseas Filipino Workers in South Korea, and laid wreaths at the War Memorial in Seoul and the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) Memorial in Goyang to mark the 63rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.