By Brian Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to further enhanced bilateral relations with fellow Southeast Asian nations as he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on the sidelines of the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 26–27.
In a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Hun, President Marcos expressed strong interest in expanding collaboration in key areas, such as trade and defense, “I hope that we can move forward with those discussions in terms of trade, defense, and potential defense cooperation.”
The Cambodian leader likewise emphasized ASEAN’s collective potential for resilience and growth amid global trade disruptions, noting “there are thousands of products where we can find complementaries” as trade partners.
In a separate meeting, President Marcos and Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra agreed to harness innovation and economic complementarity to drive inclusive and sustainable growth in the region, pledging to enhance the Philippines and Thailand’s cooperation in key sectors, including trade and investment, agriculture, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Marcos made the commitment as the Philippines and Thailand will mark their 76th year of diplomatic relations on June 14.
As the Philippines targets to increase its exports to Thailand, Marcos also noted the “great potential” for a partnership between Manila and Bangkok in electronics, AI, copper, vehicle wiring, and precious metals industries: “I really see that there is great potential in all of these areas.”
Likewise, he welcomed the commitment of a leading Thai agricultural company to invest in the Philippines, stressing the importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the Philippines’ economic growth.
The Thai leader likewise agreed to expand agricultural cooperation with the Philippines, citing Bangkok’s interest in investing heavily on research and development, “We encourage other countries to invest in Thailand more and invest in the Philippines as well.”
Meanwhile, the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is the shared commitment reaffirmed by the Philippines and Kuwait, with Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah hailing OFWs for their valuable contributions to Kuwait’s development.
In a media interview on Tuesday, Marcos shared the improved relations between the two countries, recalling the bilateral meeting with the Kuwaiti Crown Prince on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in 2023.
“After we spoke during the meeting in Saudi Arabia, very, very quickly, the problems became smooth. And now we are back to the normal procedures of bringing people to work in Kuwait,” Marcos said.
-jpv
