Prime Minister Christopher Luxon; my colleagues in the Philippine government.
[Please, please, take your seats.]
Members of the New Zealand delegation; our friends in the media; ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
We marked today an important milestone in the friendship between Philippines and New Zealand as we welcome Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the New Zealand delegation to the Philippines.
Our interaction and engagement with New Zealand is guided by our shared Pacific heritage, our common experiences as maritime nations, and by our collective desire for peace, stability, and prosperity.
It is indeed a natural course for us to work towards enhancing our relations that will see the Philippines and New Zealand grow closer and cooperate more extensively on various areas, including trade, investment, defense, environment, climate change, maritime security, people-to-people linkages, and in multilateral endeavors. A very full list.
On the economic front, the Philippines will continue to partner with New Zealand in maximizing the benefits of the rules-based trading system as strengthened by international arrangements such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP, and the ASEAN Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).
We will remain committed as fair and active stakeholders in this globalized and highly connected economic system, with the end goal of further realizing inclusive and sustainable development for our peoples.
The Philippines welcomes a mechanism that will shepherd our joint efforts on economic relations.
Our two governments will explore avenues to realize this important step in achieving a healthy, balanced, significant, and sustainable bilateral investment and trade.
My team will always be ready to work with their New Zealand counterparts so we can maximize the potentials, raise our economic relations to much higher levels.
This system and the unprecedented growth that the region has been experiencing for many decades now are anchored on the stability enabled by the rules-based order and shored up by international law.
The Philippines welcomes New Zealand’s continued commitment to advocate for the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Your support, Mr. Prime Minister, and that of the New Zealand government, strengthens the overarching principles on which our continued march to prosperity and regional security are anchored.
We are delighted to acknowledge the intent of our friends in New Zealand to join our efforts towards a comprehensive maritime security for our region.
Accordingly, we look forward to the institutionalization of our bilateral endeavors in maritime security that will have our respective law enforcement and civilian agencies working together in addressing common threats at sea.
Our comprehensive maritime cooperation is envisioned to deal with a wide range of issues, from piracy to illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing (IUUF), terrorism in the maritime domain, contraband smuggling, and wildlife trafficking, amongst others.
The next few years will likewise witness our two countries jointly contribute in the global effort to realize the noble goals of the Paris Agreement and minimize the effects of climate change on our peoples and the region
This commitment also extends to our focused collaboration on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
The camaraderie and friendly relations between Filipinos and Kiwis will remain as the strongest and most enduring connection that propels our common aspirations.
We appreciate New Zealand for ensuring the welfare of almost 100,000 Filipinos who are pursuing academic courses, earning a living for their families, and achieving their dreams while positively contributing to the economies and societies of both our two countries.
As Prime Minister Luxon himself has been able to personally see and admire the beauty and wonders of our country many times over, we wish that the next few years will see us welcoming a greater number of New Zealand nationals as well, to visit, to explore, and to learn to love the Philippines.
As we set our sights on the celebration of the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2026, Prime Minister Luxon and I have agreed to continue working together in a steadfast manner and united in the vision of an elevated and more meaningful relationship between our two nations.
Our strong commitments are identified clearly in the Joint Statement, to be released after this Press Conference.
Thank you very much. And good evening to you all.
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