Video Message by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. upon his return from his State Visit to Cambodia

Mga kababayan, magandang araw po.

I have returned from my State Visit to Cambodia where I had a constructive exchange with, among others, Acting Head of State and Senate President Hun Sen on advancing our bilateral relations across key sectors and fora.

I also met with Prime Minister Hun Manet, and we underscored the mutual regard that we place on our close bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

In our efforts to strengthen our respective economies and that of our region, we highlighted our collective interest to bolster intra-ASEAN trade through enhancing market access.

We had a productive engagement with the top businesses in Cambodia together with our official business delegation, where our discussions focused on our complementary strengths and how both sides can offer each other unique opportunities for growth and for market diversification.

Our discussion resulted in strategic partnerships through the signing of five business agreements.

They are in the sectors of mutual interests such as aviation, logistics, women-led MSMEs, exploration of market opportunities for Philippine exports of products and services, and institutional partnerships for our business associations.

As ASEAN remains one of the most economically dynamic regions in the world, and its middle class continues to strengthen, we have seen intense travel and exchanges among our people.

We need to enable and strengthen the nodes of connectivity to support the further development of the ASEAN community.

To deepen the vibrancy of exchanges between Filipinos and Cambodians, we also took this occasion to update our air services agreement.

I was also pleased to see that we would have more exchanges in higher education through the conclusion of our agreement in cooperation in higher education with Cambodia.

This allows the Philippines to continue its noble work in providing empowerment to people in the region, opening the door to their social mobility and professional improvement.

This has been the Philippines’ track record for many decades now, and we will continue to help the region in this way.

And while we open doors for tourism and cultural exchanges and reap the benefits of regional integration, we also recognize the emerging security threats in our region.

In this regard, we affirmed our determination to fight criminal elements that misuse technology and exploit our peoples.

To improve our cooperation in addressing transnational crimes, we agreed to update our bilateral agreement to make it more responsive to the evolving security issues facing our region.

Likewise, we recognized the need to update our agreement in the field of migrant workers welfare and employment to stress our common conviction to work extensively in the prevention of illegal recruitment and trafficking in persons.

I also took the opportunity to express my appreciation for Cambodia’s support for the Philippines’ bid for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and for the Philippines’ ASEAN chairship in 2026.

Any visit of course, would not be complete without honoring the valued contributions of our hardworking, talented, and dedicated Filipino Community in Cambodia.

And we had a very warm and friendly visit with them in Phnom Penh.

I shared with them the current developments in the Philippines to uplift the quality of life for every Filipino.

I am confident that through regular dialogues, the Philippines-Cambodia partnership will be guided by our common aspiration for progress, peace, and stability for our peoples and for the ASEAN region.

Maraming salamat po.

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