The Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday justified the foreign trips of President Marcos, saying these are part of the administration’s development goals.
The President is expected to bolster the Philippines’ trade and investment opportunities in his upcoming trip to Germany and the Czech Republic next week, DFA Assistant Secretary Maria Algabre said on Friday.
The President will leave for Europe on March 11 (Monday) and will return by March 15 (Friday), and will have visited five countries so far this year.
Mr. Marcos is fresh from a back-to-back trip to Australia. He was in Canberra for a state visit last Feb. 28-29 and then participated in a special summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia from March 4 to 6 in Melbourne and Sydney.
“The President’s international engagement is, of course, in support of his development agenda, security, economic that will redound to the benefits of our countrymen,” Algabre told reporters.
“And for Germany and the Czech Republic, the visit will focus, as we have said earlier, in strengthening partnership with like-minded countries in Europe especially the promotion of a rules-based international order,” she added.
In a pre-departure briefing held in Malacañang, Algabre said the President will attend business forums with various corporate executives aside from his scheduled meetings with respective leaders of both countries.
The DFA official told reporters there are major companies, which intend to take advantage of the Philippines’ “impressive economic performance and conducive economic investment.” She noted that “partnership agreements will also be signed” during the business forums.
On the President’s trip to Germany, Algabre said a joint declaration of intent on strengthening cooperation in the maritime sector will be signed by both countries’ transportation agencies. The declaration seeks to facilitate maritime trade and mobility of Philippine- and German-owned commercial vessels.
Moreover, there will also be a signing of a cooperation program between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education to boost technical and vocational education and training.
In the Czech Republic, the President will sign a joint communiqué on the establishment of a labor consultations mechanism to improve the collaboration between Manila and Prague in helping the migration of Filipino workers.
Algabre stated that with the Czech Republic pushing for more Filipino workers, Prague has set a yearly quota for Filipinos starting this May, which would allow the entry of 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
“There are also other agreements in the pipeline that we are closely working on with the Czech side,” Algabre said. She also noted that President Marcos would personally meet with Filipino communities living in Germany and the Czech Republic.
According to her, the trips were not a waste of government’s funds.
Since assuming the presidency on June 30, 2022 and until end-2023, Marcos went abroad 19 times—11 over the past 12 months of last year.
This year, aside from the two trips to Australia, Marcos went to Brunei to attend the wedding of Prince Abdul Mateen, Vietnam for a state visit.
Last month, the Presidential Communications Office said that 46 projects worth $14.2 billion in foreign investments have already been actualized from the trips of Marcos in various countries over the past 16 months.