By Brian Jules Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet have agreed to boost rice trade and explore more tourism tie ups between the Philippines and Cambodia.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, two leaders had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit on Monday where Marcos said the Philippines wants to engage Cambodia in agricultural trade and improve palay production.
“Some MOUs (Memoranda of Understanding) that have lapsed…we really need to look back and engage with in terms of trade in agriculture, rice specifically. When I visited you in Cambodia last time, that subject that we were talking about. We were preparing for this drought. It’s now happening,” Marcos told Hun.
“It caught our attention. We really should look into it. Something that is necessary now. That’s the lesson learned from [the] pandemic. We really have to be flexible in looking [at] our suppliers,” the President said.
According to the Chief Executive, one area to explore and strengthen is to improve the country’s ties with other rice-producing nations like Cambodia to secure its rice inventory.
Marcos and Hun also discussed connectivity, particularly the boosting of their respective tourism industries as well as trade and investment.
The Cambodian leader is also interested to follow up talks on connectivity and increasing the number of tourists from Cambodia to the Philippines and vice versa.
“We now have flights, five times, Cambodia to NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport), possibility to increasing destination…Cambodia to Cebu,” Hun told Marcos.
He added that Cambodia has just opened an airport in Siem Reap and will be opening another one in Phnom Penh next year.
Marcos informed Hun of the plans of the Philippine government to modernize the Manila airport as well as developing other regional airports close to tourist spots.
“We have done little yet to explore. I fully agree. That’s for two countries, an advantage for us. I’m very much open for that. We will try to see, when I get back, which regional airports are ready to take international tourists and visitors. And I will be glad if we could increase the volume of exchange…tourism, travelers, and even business,” Marcos said. – avds
