Stronger Phl, Vietnam ties seen

The Philippines found another strong partner in Vietnam on matters of food security and climate change.

This, after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. met with Vietnam National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in Malacañang on Wednesday, the Office of the Press Secretary said.

Vuong is confident that under the Marcos administration, the relationship between the two Southeast Asian nations would continue to flourish.

“Under your leadership, we will continue to work closely together and I am very confident under your leadership and with your experience, you will help contribute further to strengthen the bilateral relations between our two countries and also in helping elevate the role and position of the Philippines on the global stage,” Vuong told Marcos during their meeting.

In their meeting, Marcos said he was “very fortunate” to have met his Vietnamese counterpart, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, at the 29th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Bangkok, Thailand last week.

“I was able to have a meeting with your President wherein we discussed many subjects that primarily (include) agriculture and the trade between our two countries when it comes to the agricultural importation and in importing from Vietnam to the Philippines,” Marcos told the Vietnamese official.

“He was kind enough to make a commitment to Vietnam to always include the Philippines as part of your trade partners, especially when it comes to rice. We covered many other subjects as well,” he added.

Marcos earlier confirmed he would visit Vietnam upon the invitation of the Vietnamese leader.

Marcos was also able to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Cambodia, where they agreed to further strengthen their partnership in defense, trade, investment, agriculture, and maritime security.

Vuong said he was “much impressed” about the commitments made by the Philippines during the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly for expressing the “concerted efforts and coordination to address the climate change and to work together on transitioning towards the clean energy.”