Opening Statement by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Bilateral Meeting with His Excellency, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation

Thank you very much, Your Excellency, Mr. President.

First of all, allow me to convey my gratitude for the warm hospitality that your government and your people have shown to myself and this delegation and speaking as Chair of ASEAN to all of the member states of ASEAN who have come for this very important summit.

The – it is… As you have mentioned, Mr. President, it is a particularly significant time for us to be meeting as this is the 50 years celebration of Philippine-Russian ties.

And we welcome the efforts of our respective embassies since last year, as they have spearheaded initiatives that celebrated this milestone. And this – and in particular, the photo exhibition that was held in Moscow, inaugurated and displayed in the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

We hope to continue our regular conduct of political consultations between our foreign ministries.

They provide a very important opportunity to explore further ways of cooperation.

And once again, speaking as Chair of ASEAN, may I personally extend my invitation to Your Excellency to attend the 21st East Asia Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Manila next November.

The East Asia Summit remains an integral part in maintaining a regional architecture towards our shared goal of a stable, secure, and prosperous region.

On the trade and investment relationship between our two countries, again, I would like to thank you for the hospitality and support that was extended to our delegation at the fourth meeting of the Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, which was held in Moscow last September.

We appreciate the forward-looking exchange on the different structural issues that affect the trade and – between our two countries.

And as you have mentioned, Your Excellency, we – there are many potential areas that I think we should still open to explore and I think that the present level of trade, although it is steady, I think that this is – there is a great deal more that we can do.

We note that during the JCTEC meeting held in Moscow, energy and food security emerged as a mutual – one of the mutual priorities of both our countries.

And that is why we again, that B2B component at the sidelines of the JCTEC enabled Philippines and Russia to establish networks and to explore joint ventures.

We note that a number of memoranda of understanding that we signed during this [inaudible] covered cooperation in innovation, retail products, cosmetics, food processing, and industrial

[inaudible] collaboration.

— END —