President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s first state visit to Vietnam this year aims to strengthen not only the bilateral ties with the Philippines, but also strengthen maritime cooperation, trade and investment deals as he is set to visit the Filipino community in the southeast country.
In his departure speech, President Marcos said his visit to Vietnam is important as it is the only strategic partner of the Philippines in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, and an avenue to reaffirm the country’s commitment to further strengthen the bilateral relations of the two countries.
“Maritime cooperation will be one of the cornerstones of the Strategic Partnership which we are going to forge, and we hope to strengthen this aspect during my visit to promote peace and stability in our region,” President Marcos said.
“I will also discuss cooperation in defense and security, trade and investments, education, tourism, as well as regional and multilateral issues of [mutual] concern,” the President added.
There are 39 signed agreements between the Philippines and Vietnam in the fields of trade and investments, customs, air services, agriculture, visa waivers for diplomatic and official passport holders, visa facilitation, tourism, among others.
President Marcos also emphasized his meeting with the business sector to explore how the Philippines and Vietnam can further strengthen trade and investments between the two countries.
President Marcos said the Philippines and Vietnam has “vast array of opportunities, especially in a post-pandemic world” as he emphasized that he will also take the opportunity to visit the Filipino community there.
The chief executive will visit Vietnam upon the invitation of President Vo Van Thuong.
President Marcos will meet President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue.
The formal diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Vietnam span 47 years since its formal establishment on July 12, 1976 while the two countries elevated their relations to a strategic partnership in 2015.
Vietnam is a home to 7,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose remittances amounted to $13,683,000. PND
