Remarks By
HON. ENRIQUE A. MANALO
Secretary for Foreign Affairs
10th Meeting of The Philippines-Viet Nam Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation
Hanoi, Viet Nam
02 August 2023
His Excellency Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
Colleagues from the Vietnamese and Philippine Governments;
Ladies and gentlemen;
Good morning.
Allow me first to thank Minister Bui Thanh Son for his invitation for me to co-chair the 10th meeting of the Philippines-Viet Nam Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC). I wish to note that this is my first official bilateral visit to a fellow ASEAN member country as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and I wish to express my appreciation for the warm welcome you have extended to me personally, and to the members of the Philippine delegation.
I would also like to express my appreciation for making it possible for me to deliver my policy speech at the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam in front of a number of ASEAN diplomats, academe, and young diplomats.
The conduct of the 10th JCBC is timely considering that we will be commemorating several auspicious occasions in the next three years. First, our Plan of Action will end its five-year course in 2024 so we would need to negotiate a new Plan and reinvigorate it, and this will guide our Strategic Partnership for another five years.
Second, we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership in 2025. We will also be marking the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2026.
These milestones in the coming years are testaments to our robust bilateral relationship, in which the foundations of our mutual desire for peace and prosperity between our two countries and the region are going to be reflected. Therefore, the conduct of the 10th meeting of the JCBC will allow our two countries to discuss how to take advantage of the momentum that we have built up in the past five decades and examine our vital cooperation on areas such as political, economic, defense and security, maritime cooperation, socio-cultural cooperation, as well as new areas of cooperation.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently finished his first year in office, and we have seen a remarkable display of trust and confidence between our two countries. We welcome the President’s recent sideline meetings with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the last two ASEAN Summits.
We also look forward to President Marcos’ state visit to Viet Nam in January next year, where he and President Vo Van Thuong could meet to discuss how to raise our bilateral ties to even greater heights.
I also look forward to discussing important areas of cooperation with you, especially in maritime cooperation, trade and investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation in ASEAN and other multilateral fora. I am also looking forward to exchanging views with you on pertinent regional and international issues, mainly on how we can promote peace and stability in the region and in the greater international arena.
Again, let me conclude by expressing our sincere appreciation for your very warm welcome and I anticipate a productive meeting ahead of us.
Thank you.