OFFICIALS of the Philippines and Indonesia on Friday signed two agreements on agriculture and on sea connectivity in a move intended to foster trade and cooperation between the two countries.
The first was a “Memorandum of Understanding on Agriculture,” which was signed by Secretary Emmanuel Piñol of the Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Ir Amran Sulaiman, Minister of Agriculture of Indonesia.
The second was the “Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Sea Connectivity Between Davao-General Santos Southern Mindanao and Bitung North Sulawesi.”
The signatories are Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation and Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation of Indonesia.
The joint declaration will encourage the establishment of direct sea connectivity between the cities involved, the designation of their ports for this purpose, regular consultation, and undertaking measures to ensure that certain safety standards are met, Malacañang said.
During the opening statement delivered at the Bilateral Meeting between the two countries, at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace, President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
“I am pleased to welcome you to Manila for this important meeting. The Philippines values its long-standing relationship with Indonesia,” said Duterte.
“Our formal ties date back to our Treaty of Friendship in 1951, but we are bound by centuries of interaction and exchange,” Duterte said.
“We have almost seven decades of fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation. In fact, this is among the oldest of the Philippines’ diplomatic relations and we are eager to achieve more. I am positive that our meeting today will mark yet a new chapter of positive engagement at the bilateral, sub-regional and regional levels,” he said.
“It is my wish that this sustained engagement will further deepen the foundation of our relations in the decades to come,” said Duterte.
For his part, Widodo said: “ I am pleased to meet Your Excellency President Duterte again.”
“And it is an honor for me to reciprocate your visit by visiting Manila. And congratulations on the Philippines’ Chairmanship of Asean this year, the year where Asean will celebrate its 50th anniversary,” said Widodo.
“Within the bilateral context, our two countries has a robust cooperation. The Philippines is our largest trading partner in Asean and I am convinced that our meeting today will add value to our efforts in strengthening our bilateral relations,” Widodo said.
Duterte, in his reply, said: “As Indonesia’s close friend and partner, the Philippines is committed to working with you to open new doors of cooperation.”
“Allow me therefore to highlight the following: on the political cooperation, we need to sustain the momentum of our engagements by utilizing the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation or otherwise known as JCBC,” Duterte said.