Philippine president arrives in Hanoi for state visit

They were welcomed at the Noi Bai International Airport by Chairman of the President’s Office Le Khanh Hai, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, and Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Lai Thai Binh, among others.

This is the first visit to Vietnam by the Philippine leader since taking office in 2022.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the visit, Ambassador Binh said that the trip aims to reaffirm the solid strategic partnership, foster political trust at the highest level, and create momentum to promote the bilateral cooperation in all fields and through all Party, Government, State, National Assembly and people-to-people exchange channels.

The visit is also important to strengthening ASEAN’s solidarity and centrality, especially in the context of political and security uncertainties in the region and the world, including the situation in Myanmar and the East Sea.

Through the visit, the strategic cooperation between the two countries is expected to be comprehensively consolidated, for the sake of their peoples, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and beyond, he said.

Vietnam and the Philippines established diplomatic relations in 1976 and upgrade ties to strategic partnership in 2015.

The Philippines is Vietnam 16th largest trade partner in the world and its top rice importer.

Bilateral trade turnover increased from $2.9 billion in 2012 to $7.8 billion in 2022, and reached $7.1 billion in the first 11 months last year.

The Philippines is investing $608 million in 92 projects in Vietnam while Vietnam has five investment projects worth nearly $4 million in the Philippines.