The fifth meeting of the Japan–Philippines Maritime Dialogue was held on March 29, 2023 in Tokyo.
- The Japanese side headed by Mr. HAYASHI Makoto, Deputy Director-General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consisted of officials of the National Security Secretariat, the National Ocean Policy Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense, and the Japan Coast Guard; the Philippine side headed by Ms. Maria Angela A. Ponce, Assistant Secretary of Maritime and Ocean Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, consisted of officials of the Department of National Defense, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), among others.
- Both sides, representing the two neighboring maritime nations and strategic partners sharing vital sea lanes, discussed latest developments in their surrounding seas such as the East and South China Seas as well as ways to strengthen cooperation in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and the Luzon Strait.
- Both sides affirmed the importance of rules-based, free and open maritime order and continued to strengthen cooperation in the maritime-related fields toward the realization of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” and the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)” based on the outcomes of President Marcos’s Official Visit to Japan this February.
(Reference) Japan–Philippines Maritime Dialogue
The Japan-Philippines Maritime Dialogue was formalized in light of the Japan-Philippines Joint Statement of June 2009.
The first meeting of the Japan–Philippines Maritime Dialogue was held in Tokyo on September 9, 2011, followed by the second in Manila on February 22, 2013, the third in Tokyo on June 11, 2019, and the fourth in a teleconference format on October 22, 2021.
Link: https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press1e_000401.html