Philippine President’s visit – a milestone in Philippines-Việt Nam relations: Ambassador

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính met Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. during the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in September 2023. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — The state visit to Việt Nam by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and his spouse from January 29-30 will be a milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two countries and contribute to deepening their relationship, said Philippine Ambassador to Việt Nam Meynardo Los Banos Montealegre.

Speaking to the media ahead of the visit, the ambassador said that although this would be the first state visit to Việt Nam by President Marcos, he had met Vietnamese officials previously.

This visit would help strengthen the closeness between the Philippine President and Việt Nam’s highest-ranking leaders, the ambassador said, adding that it’s also very important in promoting the friendship and partnership between the two countries established in 1976 with great contributions by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr..

Việt Nam and the Philippines would celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in the next two years. In 2025, they would mark the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership.

Over the past four decades, the partnership and friendship between Việt Nam and the Philippines witnessed good developments with high-level visits by the heads of state and leaders of the two countries, including the upcoming visit by President Marcos.

Previously, the two countries also exchanged delegations at the ministerial and official levels. At the 10th meeting of the two countries’ joint commission on bilateral cooperation in August 2023, they agreed to effectively deploy bilateral cooperation mechanisms including the Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns, the Joint Sub-Committee on Trade, the Joint Working Group on Agriculture, and the Joint Working Group in Fisheries.

The two sides agreed to develop an action programme to implement their strategic partnership for the 2025-2030 period; strengthen defence-security cooperation; and strive to soon bring their two-way trade turnover to US$10 billion.

The two countries also agreed to promote cooperation in other important fields such as agriculture, culture, tourism, education, transportation, science and technology, environment and people-to-people exchanges. They also agreed to continue to coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially ASEAN and the United Nations.

“The Philippines is ready to cooperate closely with the Party, State, Government, and people of Việt Nam to make long-term contributions to the bilateral friendship and cooperation,” the ambassador said.

Regarding the significance of the visit, the Filipino diplomat said it would be an important milestone and would open up many opportunities to further deepen their relationship for the benefit of their people, and for the peace and prosperity of the region.

Meanwhile, assessing Việt Nam’s current position in the region, Ambassador Montealegre said that Việt Nam had made many contributions.

The Philippines appreciated the great economic achievements that Việt Nam made in 2023 despite many challenges in the global economy, he said.

With “bamboo diplomacy”, Việt Nam had maintained solid diplomatic relations at the bilateral, regional, and international levels, which helped affirm its role and protect its interests in the region, he noted. —VNS