THE ambassadors of Norway and the Netherlands to the Philippines have proposed deeper cooperation with the Philippines during their courtesy calls on Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, the Department of National Defense (DND) said yesterday.
DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong said ambassadors Christian Halaas Lyster of Norway made the courtesy call on Monday, and Marielle Geraedts of the Netherlands on Tuesday.
“As the Philippines and Norway celebrated the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations on March 2, 2023, Ambassador Lyster proposed exploring maritime, energy, and fisheries industry cooperation with the Philippines,” Andolong said in a statement.
Lyster also reaffirmed Norway’s commitment to the rule of law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that provides coastal states like he Philippines a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Andolong said Teodoro welcomed Norway’s support, and said it “would enable the country to refocus on deterrence, increase footprint in the West Philippine Sea, and assert sovereign rights for resource exploration and exploitation in the country’s exclusive economic zone.”
Teodoro and Lyster reiterated the importance of cyber domain and the seriousness of threats, such as fake news.
“To that end, both sides highlighted coordination with like-minded partners, especially in strategic messaging, as an effective means to counter such threats,” said Andolong.
During his meeting with Geraedts, Teodoro proposed “greenfield opportunities in various industries, particularly in defense and security, with the Netherlands and the European Union,” Andolong said.
Noting the recent adoption of the National Security Police 2023-2028, Geraedts “reiterated the proposal on establishing naval defense industry cooperation with the Philippines, underscoring its strategic and economic advantages in the long term,” he said.
Andolong said Teodoro “agreed and further proposed to develop broader defense cooperation, taking into consideration the importance of other areas such as cyber and artificial intelligence, as well as the Netherland’s potential to become a partner in these areas.”
Andolong said Teodoro informed Geraedts of the Philippines’ recalibration of its defense strategy, referring to the shift of focus to territorial and external defense.
He said Teodoro underscored the “development of a credible defense posture that will effectively protect Philippine interests in the country’s exclusive economic zone.”
