Statement of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. During the Presentation and Exchange of Signed Agreements and Joint Press Conference with Polish President Karol Nawrocki
His Excellency Karol Nawrocki, the President of the Republic of Poland; esteemed members of the Polish delegation; my colleagues in the Philippine government, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening.
It is my honor and pleasure to welcome His Excellency President Nawrocki today in Malacanañ Palace, the very first Polish President to visit us here in the Philippines.
President Nawrocki’s historic visit marks an important milestone in the growing partnership between the Philippines and Poland and sustains the momentum of recent high-level exchanges.
During our bilateral meeting this afternoon, President Nawrocki and I discussed our country’s ongoing and prospective cooperation in areas such as defense and security, trade, industry, agriculture, science and technology, ICT, energy, legal cooperation, and people-to-people connections.
We welcomed in particular the steady progress in Philippines Poland defense cooperation, which includes our acquisition of S-70 Black Hawk combat utility helicopters from Poland as part of the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
We look forward to building on the outcomes of the inaugural Philippines-Poland Joint Defense Cooperation Committee, including through joint training and educational opportunities.
Poland has also been participating as an observer in the Balikatan Exercises since 2025.
On economic cooperation, we noted the positive trajectory of our bilateral trade and committed to supporting private sector interest in partnerships and investment opportunities.
As food security remains a priority of this administration, we agreed to continue strengthening agricultural cooperation with Poland, particularly in trade, market access, sanitary and phytosanitary cooperation, technologies, and agricultural research and education.
On digital infrastructure, we welcome the strong interest of both sides in finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding on ICT cooperation, which would serve as a framework for cooperation in cybersecurity, e-governance, and digital connectivity.
We also welcomed increased cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, including in space technologies.
We noted the ongoing engagement between our respective space agencies, the Philippine Space Agency and the Polish Space Agency, in this exciting and very promising area of cooperation.
I am also pleased with the progress in legal cooperation between our two countries, marked by the signing of the Agreement on a Transfer of Sentenced Persons earlier this year, and today, as we have just witnessed, the signing of the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.
We further affirmed our readiness to commence negotiations on an extradition agreement.
We committed to supporting greater people-to-people exchanges, including through cooperation between our tourism ministries to further strengthen cultural understanding between our peoples.
The 25,000-strong Filipino community in Poland is a strong foundation of our relations.
President Nawrocki and I also had insightful exchange of views on regional and international matters of mutual concern, including the challenges in the South China Sea and security developments in Ukraine and in Europe.
We reiterated our shared commitment to upholding the rule of law in international relations and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Lastly, I welcome Poland’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia through the signing ceremony of acceding countries to the TAC on July 24th of this year, here in Manila, during the Philippines’ Chairship of ASEAN.
We discussed opportunities for further expanding relations between ASEAN and Poland.
The Philippines also looks forward to building on the momentum of this visit and exploring even more ways to enhance our cooperation with Poland in the years ahead.
Thank you very much.
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