PH Ambassador to South Africa Presents Credentials to Eswatini King
Ambassador to South Africa Joseph Gerard B. Angeles shake hands with Eswatini King Mswati III. (Pretoria PE photo)
PRETORIA 27 May 2019 — Ambassador to South Africa Joseph Gerard B. Angeles presented his credentials to Eswatini King Mswati III as non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) last 09 May 2019.
During the presentation of credentials, Ambassador Angeles relayed the greetings of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and noted the strong relations between the Philippines and Eswatini to King Mswati.
Relations between the two countries have been robust and thriving through years of people-to-people exchanges by various high-level visits by Eswatini officials to the Philippines and by closely 350 Filipinos live and work in Eswatini in various industries as professionals and skilled employees, contributing to the economic and social development of the country.
On behalf of the Filipino community, Ambassador Angeles relayed to King Mswati the community’s appreciation for the warm accommodation that Filipinos have been receiving in the country.
On economic cooperation, Ambassador Angeles informed King Mswati that as Ambassador, he wished to see an expansion of bilateral trade between the two countries. Exports of the Philippines to Eswatini include cement, concrete and artificial stone, static converters, and digital monolithic integrated circuits, while Eswatini exports to the Philippines such items as filter paper, paperboard, and gummed or adhesive paper.
For his part, King Mswati welcomed Ambassador Angeles’s program for strengthening trade, noting that small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) had the capacity to create many jobs. He also said that he would welcome investors from the Philippines to develop industries in Eswatini, such as agriculture.
King Mswati also happily recalled his visit to the Philippines in May 2008, wherein he was feted by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during the King’s visit to that city.
As a sign of goodwill, Ambassador Angeles gave King Mswati a roll of T’nalak and a book on the Philippines. King Mswati said that he looked forward to reading the book on the Philippines as it will remind him of his happy visit to the country.
The formal ceremony for the presentation of credentials was preceded by a meeting between Ambassador Angeles and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thuli Dladla.
Minister Dladla said she looked forward to future meetings with the Ambassador to discuss areas of cooperation in greater detail. Minister Dladla also mentioned that he has a brother who studied Agriculture in the Philippines who always recalled with fondness the Philippines and the Filipino friends he made during his stay. END
Ambassador Angeles presents his Letters of Credence to King Mswati III (Pretoria PE photo)
Ambassador Angeles reads the Message of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (Pretoria PE photo)
Informal conversation between Ambassador Angeles and King Mswati III (Pretoria PE photo)
Ambassador Angeles presents gifts from the Philippines to King Mswati III of Eswatini (Pretoria PE photo)
Courtesy call to Foreign Minister Thuli Dladla by Ambassador Angeles (Pretoria PE photo)
For more information, visit www.pretoriape.dfa.gov.ph.