By Brian Jules Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will depart for Canberra on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation as well as discuss further areas of collaborations with Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said during a Palace press briefing that the President will visit Australia as a Guest of Government on Feb. 28 and 29 upon the invitation of Governor-General David Hurley.
“The visit is envisioned to further cement the strategic partnership that reaffirmed the two countries’ shared interest in regional prosperity and peace,” Daza said.
She added that President Marcos will address the Australian parliament to discuss future endeavors and strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Philippines and Australia signed a document in September last year to elevate their relations to a strategic partnership from a comprehensive partnership in 2015.
Notable, this will make Marcos the first Philippine president to speak before the said parliament.
The Chief Executive is also set to meet with senior government officials including Hurley, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and other Australian Parliamentary leaders to discuss issues such as defense and security, trade, investments, people-to-people exchanges, multilateral cooperation, and regional issues.
“Similarly, the visit will witness the signing of new agreements in areas of common interest to complement the already robust cooperation with Australia and expand engagements for mutual capacity-building,” according to Malacañang.
Marcos was also invited by Canberra to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Australia Special Summit on March 4-6.
Meanwhile, in November this year, the Philippines and Australia will mark the 78th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
According to Malacañang, about 408,000 Filipinos and Australians of Filipino descent call Australia their home, making them the fifth-largest migrant community in the country.
Australia is also the second largest partner of the Philippines in terms of defense and security as well as one of only two bilateral partners with which it has a Visiting Forces Agreement, the other being the United States. – avds
