Manila 4th September : Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos headed to Indonesia on Sunday his first trip to Indonesia since he was elected on June 30.After a three-day trip as a state visitor to Indonesia, Marcos will also visit Singapore from September 6 to 7 September, Xinhua media agency said.
“My State visits to our ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors will aim to maximize the potential of our dynamic trade and investment relationships,” Marcos said shortly before departing for Jakarta.
“Business gatherings and forums have been arranged to help draw more investors and customers for our exports in order to speed up the post-pandemic expansion of our economy” he added.
In Jakarta, Marcos said he will discuss with Indonesian President Joko Widodo “the present state and the future of the relationship between the Philippines and Indonesia and the evolving global geopolitical situation”.
Marcos declared that Indonesia has been the Philippines an allies as well as one of the Philippines most close bilateral partners for many years.
He as well as Widodo will be witness to the signing of various agreements covering key aspects of collaboration, Marcos said.
In addition, he will also “seek the cooperation of our friends and assist in Indonesia to invest in the areas that we have identified as being of assistance, particularly in the most critical areas that we’ve identified in energy and agriculture,” he said.
After his time in Indonesia, Marcos will go to Singapore for an official visit.
Marcos announced that he will hold separate talks with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Singapore’s Prime Lee Hsien-Loong, the Minister for Finance “to reiterate our determination to strengthen bilateral relations, to explore options for strengthening economic ties , and discuss global and regional issues.”
Marcos added that he along with Lee will also be witness to the signing of various agreements in the fields of anti-terrorism and data privacy.
Singapore has grown to become the Philippines number one trade partner in ASEAN and is the largest source of approved investment in 2021.”Our economic collaboration with Singapore has increased by leaps and bounds over the last half century and there are more opportunities waiting to be explored from both sides,” Marcos added.
Marcos said he anticipates a plethora of business deals to be concluded during his state visit to Indonesia and Singapore.
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