Welcoming Remarks by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Opening of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN)-Russia Commemorative Summit

Thank you,

Mr. President,

Your Majesty,

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Good morning.

It is my honor to serve as Co-chair of the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit alongside President Putin, as we mark 35 years of a partnership built on mutual respect, shared interests, and the steady conviction that cooperation, not confrontation, is the surest path to peace.

I wish to express our deep appreciation to the government and people of the Russian Federation for their generous hospitality and for the excellent arrangements that have brought us together here in Kazan – a city where civilizations have long met, mingled, and enriched one another.

It is a fitting venue for a gathering that is itself an exercise in bridging distances, both geographic and cultural.

Thirty-five years ago, Russia’s participation in the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur planted the first seeds of what has grown into a strategic partnership of genuine consequence.

The principles that guided those early steps — mutual respect, sovereign equality, and the commitment to peaceful cooperation enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation –remainas relevant today as they were then.

They are not merely historical anchors, they are active guides for the works still before us.

As we mark this milestone, the Philippines would like to highlight three priorities that should animate our cooperation in the years ahead.

First, peace, security, and stability.

In an era of deepening geopolitical uncertainty, the value of steady political and security engagement between ASEAN and Russia cannot be overstated.

Transnational threats such as terrorism, illicit trafficking, cybercrime, and online scams do not respect borders and neither can our responses.

We must strengthen practical cooperation on maritime security and counter-terrorism, reinforce our collective resilience in cyberspace and develop the institutional habits of anticipation rather than mere reaction.

Second, a more dynamic economic partnership.

Our trade and investment ties have grown, but they have yet to reach full potential.

We must be more deliberate and more ambitious in expanding economic opportunities, improving trade facilitation, deepening investment flows, and connecting our business communities.

Food and energy security deserve a particular attention, as these are the foundations on which broader stability rests.

Our economic cooperation must also be inclusive.

Our micro, small, and medium enterprises must have a place in this partnership, and our cooperation must extend into the emerging sectors that will shape tomorrow’s global economy.

And third, perhaps the most and most enduring, is our people.

Scholarships, student exchanges, academic partnerships, tourism and the arts.

These are not peripheral to our relationship, they are at its living core.

The connections forged between our peoples outlast any summit declaration and carry our partnership forward in ways that policy alone cannot do.

We must continue to invest in these bonds, placing our youth not merely at the receiving end of this cooperation, but at its center, as the generation that will ultimately decide what ASEAN-Russia relations will become.

Your Majesty, Excellencies, colleagues, guided by our Chairship theme: “Navigating Our Future Together,” the Philippines approaches this summit not just as a ceremony of commemoration, but as a renewed call to action.

Thirty-five years is a foundation. What we build on it, is our choice and our responsibility.

Let us choose well.

Thank you.

— END —