Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 5) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday said he is optimistic his first state visit will result in a stronger alliance with Southeast Asian neighbor Indonesia for the coming years.
Marcos and Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed the signing of four key agreements on defense and security cooperation, cultural cooperation, and creative economy, as well as a plan of action for bilateral cooperation from 2022 to 2027.
The Philippine president expressed confidence that the agreements signed by the two nations will help the country’s economy bounce back from the pandemic.
“These partnerships that we make with all our partners and allies and friends around the world will be of critical importance so that we remain stable as we grow out of the pandemic economy and we work together and help each other to develop regional peace and regional development,” he said in their televised joint statement delivered at the Bogor Presidential Palace in the capital of Jakarta.
“Again it’s those partnerships I believe that will keep the stability of all of our plans and what we are hoping to do in the next few years,” Marcos added.
He shared that he and Widodo went through a wide range of topics during their quick chat that they have agreed to organize technical task forces to take “full advantage of opportunities that we feel that are available to us and that we will need to exploit to succeed in the near future.”
Marcos was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Finance chief Benjamin Diokno in the meeting. Also present were his son, Rep. Sandro Marcos, and cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Philippine president is scheduled to attend a roundtable discussion with business leaders in Indonesia on Monday to cap off his second day in Jakarta before leaving for a state visit to Singapore the next day.
