Philippines and Australia Hold 4th Maritime Dialogue

CANBERRA 24 September 2024 – The Philippines and Australia successfully held its 4th Maritime Dialogue in Canberra, Australia on 17-18 September 2024.  It was co-chaired by Maritime and Oceans Affairs Office Assistant Secretary Louis Alferez of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and Southeast Asia Strategy and Development Division Assistant Secretary Glenn Elson of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia. 

Both sides took stock of the robust state of maritime engagement between the Philippines and Australia, which has grown from strength to strength over the years and has been further enhanced under the Philippines-Australia Strategic Partnership. They reaffirmed the importance of upholding UNCLOS and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, and maintaining the rules-based international order in order to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. It was agreed that collaborative activities would be further deepened, especially in maritime security, marine environment protection and collaboration in multilateral efforts in the maritime sphere. 

A Track 1.5 dialogue was also held the day before that allowed a substantive exchange of views on the political, security, legal and scientific aspects of the challenges in the South China Sea. Representing the Philippines were academics from UP-IMLOS, UP Political Science Department, AdMU and DLSU, while Australia was represented by La Trobe University. 

Bilateral maritime dialogues serve as a platform for comprehensive and substantive discussions on common maritime and ocean concerns. Currently, the Philippines has 10 maritime dialogue partners. The first ever maritime dialogue was with Australia in 2021. END