17 July 2016 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay Jr., acting as representative of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, participated in the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) being held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
During the plenary session of July 15, Secretary Yasay had the opportunity to engage the other 52 Leaders from Asia and Europe attending the ASEM Summit. In the first plenary session which focused on the two decades of partnership in ASEM, he cited ASEM’s role in promoting understanding and cooperation in addressing regional and in International political-security concerns.
In the second plenary session of the Summit which focused on ASEM partnership on connectivity, Secretary Yasay underlined the Philippines’ firm commitment to engage an interconnected and interdependent world. In this respect, he conveyed that the government of President Duterte is advancing a socio-economic agenda that will enhance the country’s capacity to promote and support institutional, digital, financial, infrastructure, and people-to-people connectivity not only domestically but also within the region and with other regions such as Europe.
In particular, he cited the Philippine government’s plan to implement a wide range of reforms from accelerated infrastructure spending, to progressive tax reform, to easing the way the Philippines does business, to improving social protection and investing in human capital. All these efforts are aimed at strengthening the economy, promoting business and investor confidence and ensuring that the needs of the people are addressed.
The ASEM Summit being the first international engagement of the new Philippine government, Secretary Yasay further stated that the Duterte administration is committed to transparency, reducing tape in the bureaucracy and ensuring a clear, predictable and rules-based environment for government contracts and transactions.
The Philippines is a founding member of ASEM since its establishment in 1996. With a view to enriching ASEM’s future agenda, the Philippines pushed for several issues of interest in this year’s meetings. The Philippine delegation called on ASEM to include drug trafficking as a tangible area of cooperation, as this is a global menace that would benefit from greater collaboration among Asian and European partners. Likewise, Philippine priorities in the climate change agenda, such as adaptation and loss and damage, were included in the 11th ASEM Summit Chairman’s Statement. Other areas of interest such as micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), facilitating international trade, and countering terrorism, were also put forward by the Philippines. END