President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. considered the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the country as a commitment reaffirmation to Philippines-Malaysia bilateral relations.
Marcos welcomed in his toast remarks the visit “not only because I am happy to see a friend, whom we have come to admire greatly.”
“I view the Prime Minister’s visit as a rekindling of an old friendship and old bond that took millennia to make, between neighbors and ASEAN founding members, whose people have interacted and traded for centuries before they even knew the concept of countries,” he said.
“More important, I view this as a reaffirmation of our shared commitment to revitalize our bilateral relations,” he continued.
The President said trade and investment have a huge potential.
He also said that they should strengthen their community and work for regional peace and prosperity.
“I further express my hope that this warm kinship between us, as leaders, will set the tone of the bilateral relations between our governments. countries and people, in the years to come,” Marcos said.
The Malaysian official is Marcos’ first official guest.
The two countries have close bilateral relations, and Malaysia was a third-party facilitator in the national government’s peace process with Muslim separatists in Mindanao. – Katrina Gracia Consebido-ag
