Philippines, United States and Japan Convene Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur
KUALA LUMPUR 11 July 2025 – The Philippines, United States, and Japan convened a Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 10 July 2025 on the margins of the 58th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ma. Theresa Lazaro, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, discussed strengthening security cooperation and reaffirmed commitment to safeguarding regional peace, stability and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Secretary Lazaro highlighted that the Philippines continues to regard the United States and Japan as indispensable partners in enhancing the Philippines’ defense and security capabilities. She expressed appreciation for the United States and Japan’s enduring support for the Philippines’ position in the South China Sea and the United States’ steadfast commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty.
Secretary Lazaro stated that “in order for us to be politically strong, we have to be economically strong.” As such, they discussed advancing trilateral cooperation through the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) which connects Subic, Clark, Manila, and Batangas (SCMB), which will shift the gravity of economic development beyond the National Capital Region and enable emergence of new growth hubs in Central and Southern Luzon. Secretary Lazaro thanked the US for its USD 3.8 million funding for the pre-feasibility study of the SCMB Freight Railway.
In the pursuit of digitalization among the three countries, deeper cooperation in areas such as cybersecurity capacity building and workforce development was discussed to build safer, more secure, and more resilient cyberinfrastructure and systems. END
