PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and economic leaders and business executives on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
Marcos and Kishida reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to strengthen cooperation and deepen ties amid challenges and opportunities in regional security and economic landscape.
Discussions between Marcos and Blair, executive chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, focused on the peace process in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), food security, climate action, and trade.
Press Secretary Beatrix Cruz-Angeles, in a report by government station PTV 4, said that during the working lunch of Marcos and Kishida, the President talked of his administration’s priorities, specifically in the fields of agriculture and food security, energy security, infrastructure development, and cybersecurity while the Japanese leader committed Japan’s support to the Philippines’ efforts to become an upper middle-income country by 2023.
During the UNGA, Marcos said the Philippines is on track to reach its target of reaching upper middle-income status by next year and that he expects the Philippines to be a “moderately prosperous country” by 2040.
“The two leaders met and discussed developments in Philippines-Japan bilateral relations. The two countries’ Strategic Partnership, spanning 11 years now, witnessed tremendous growth and deepened cooperation in addressing their security and defense priorities, particularly in maritime security, maritime domain awareness, maritime law enforcement capacities and peace in Mindanao. During their meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to reinforce ties and strengthen cooperation in response to the challenges and opportunities in the regional security and economic landscape,” Cruz-Angeles said.
She said the two leaders also expressed confidence that bilateral cooperation in the next years will lead to the further realization of the two countries’ aspiration for regional peace and stability, and a better life for their respective people.
Marcos, on Facebook, said he and Blair talked about the peace process in Mindanao and ways to address other priority issues in the global economy like food security, climate action, and trade.
With the President during the meeting were Speaker Martin Romualdez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, and First Lady Liza Marcos. Details about the meeting have yet to be released by Malacañang.
The President also took to social media to say he met members of the United States-Association of Southeast Asian (US-ASEAN) Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce “to chart new paths for furthering mutually beneficial economic and investment agendas with the United States.”
He said that as the Philippines opened its borders amid the pandemic, “we remain firm in our belief that stronger ties with US and ASEAN investors will lead us to a more resilient economy.”
Marcos, who is concurrent Agriculture secretary, also said he and his economic team “had an enlightening meeting” with the executives of American global food corporation Cargill on how to attain food security and self-sufficiency, and explored ways to boost agricultural productivity in the Philippines.
Cargill provides agricultural products, farming services, and risk management solutions to at least 70 countries and regions.
The President, in addressing UNGA on Tuesday, talked about the importance of ensuring food security and the need to take concrete measures towards a modern and resilient agriculture. He also expressed hope for forging cooperation with the UN and other partners to boost the country’s agricultural productivity and food security.
After his address, he met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Marcos is set to have a series of meetings with business and industry leaders before he leaves for Manila late Friday. He is also set to attend the “Philippine Economic Briefing led by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
The other members of the President’s economic team – namely Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral Governor Felipe Medalla, along with Ayala Corporation chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, will discuss economic development and outlook, fiscal management, budget priorities, and the business climate in the country.
President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, who is also the head of the Private Sector Advisory Council, will join discussions on Philippine trade and industry, tourism, transport, energy, and information and communications technology.
The President is expected to be back in Manila by Sunday.
Cruz-Angeles on Wednesday night said Marcos is set to meet with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of UNGA. She said the “momentous event” would provide the two presidents a chance to discuss the “76 fruitful years of the Philippines-US alliance in terms of mutual cooperation, two-way trade, direct investments, and other issues confronting the world.” Details of the meeting were still unavailable as of yesterday.
