Philippines-Mongolia policy consultative meeting held
The third policy consultative meeting of the foreign affairs ministries of Mongolia and the Philippines took place in Manila, Philippines, on October 11 to discuss avenues of the relations and cooperation between the two countries.
The meetings delegations were led by Mongolian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg and Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo.
At the beginning of the meeting, B.Battsetseg asked Manalo to convey the warm greetings of President Kh.Battulga to President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte.
During the meeting, both sides expressed their interests to enhance bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including economy, trade, culture, sports, tourism and education.
Both sides signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation mechanisms between their ministries of foreign affairs. The Philippine side expressed its interest to export fruits and marine products to Mongolia, and import mining and agricultural products from Mongolia. The Philippines is interested in collaborating with closely Mongolia in information technology and innovation.
Both parties emphasized the importance of improving the legal environment to develop bilateral cooperation.
Manalo expressed the Philippines’ interest in establishing direct contacts between the two countries’ chambers of commerce and industry and sending its business delegation to Mongolia to study possible areas for economic cooperation and collaboration opportunities for enhancing bilateral business ties.
The deputy minister noted that Mongolia is interested in cooperating closely with the Philippines, an influential and a key member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and emphasized that Mongolia has an interest to strengthen its continued cooperation with the Philippines under the ASEAN Regional Forum.
B.Battsetseg asked the Philippines officials for support of Mongolia’s participation in the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN dialogue partner status.
The sides agreed to establish ties between the two countries’ ministries of labor and social protection, intensify cooperation of the areas of culture, education and sports, and update the current cooperation document and programs in these areas.