Japan-Philippines Summit Meeting: (From left, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and aPhilippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.)
Much as he wanted to stay longer in the Philippines, Japan Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio’s visit can be described as “short and sweet”.
PM Kishida who arrived with his spouse Mrs. KISHIDA Yuko on November 3 was able to accomplished a lot of important agenda during his visit two-days visit.
Yesterday, November 3 upon arrival, he immediately proceeded to Manila at Rizal Park to offer flowers at the monument of Dr.Jose Rizal, the Philippinebnational hero.
After which, the Japanese Prime Minister held several meetings. The first meeting was with the Japanese Business Representatives of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines. PM Kishida discussed the current business situation in the Philippines and the outlook for Japan-Philippines economic relations.Japan-Philippines.
Thereafter, a summit meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and his Cabinet Secretaries was held. Those who joined Marcos were Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. While Prime Minister Kishida was joined by Mr. MORIYA Hiroshi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and Mr. MORI Masafumi, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister.
After the meeting, a joint press statement was issued by both Prime Minister Kishida and President Marcos. In his opening statement, President Marcos welcomed Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the Philippines and expressed heartfelt gratitude to him and his desire to further strengthen bilateral relations.
For his part, Prime Minister Kishida stated that mutual visits by the leaders is a testament to the strong bilateral relationship and that he would like to enhance cooperation in maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law as well as ensuring a world where human dignity is respected.
Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his condolences to the people of the Philippines who fell victim to the terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants.
On bilateral relation specially in Security and Defense Cooperation, Marcos expressed his hope to further deepen bilateral relations through a steady follow-up on the Japan-Philippines Joint Statement on February, and to make concrete progress in bilateral cooperation projects together with Japan.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the signing of the Exchange of Notes concerning the provision of coastal surveillance radar system, which is the first cooperation project under the Official Security Assistance (OSA), and explained that Japan would continue to strengthen cooperation on defense equipment and technology, including the transfer of warning and control radars, and maritime security capacity building, including the provision of patrol vessels.
The two leaders welcomed the start of negotiations on the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), and also concurred to proceed coordination to steadily conduct bilateral consultations on security and defense, including the holding of Foreign and Defense Ministers’ Meeting (“2+2”). Furthermore, they concurred to enhance further collaboration in such areas as cyber security and economic security through promoting Japan-U.S.-Philippines cooperation.
Economic and People-to-people Exchange
Prime Minister Kishida stated that both the public and private sectors would continue to support President Marcos’ “Build Better More” policy, including the development of infrastructure such as the Dalton Pass East Alignment Alternative Road and the Manila Metro Subway. In response, President Marcos expressed his appreciation for Japan’s support.
Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the signing of Exchange of Notes concerning the provision of construction equipment for disaster quick response operation under the economic and social development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and stated that Japan would continue to support the peace process in accordance with its progress.
President Marcos expressed his appreciation for Japan’s support and contribution to the peace process in Mindanao. The two leaders confirmed to pursue the possibility of public-private partnership in infrastructure development together with ODA through the Japan-Philippines High Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation, and to promote the creation of innovation under collaboration among businesses including through industrial cooperation dialogues, in order to strengthen bilateral economic ties.The two leaders concurred to promote cooperation in the areas of the improvement of investment environment, information and telecommunications including Open RAN, smart agriculture, decarbonization and energy including collaboration on the “Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC)” concept.
They also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on tourism to strengthen collaboration between the two countries in this field as well as the Memorandum of Cooperation on mining that contributes to developing sustainable society.
Regional and International Situation
Regarding regional affairs, from the viewpoint that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force should never be tolerated, the two leaders shared serious concerns on the situation in the East and South China Seas.
With regard to the situation in Israel and Palestine, Prime Minister Kishida resolutely condemned the terror attacks by Hamas and others. Prime Minister Kishida also explained Japan’s position that it is vital (i) to immediately release hostages and secure safety of civilians, (ii) for all the parties to act in accordance with international law, (iii) to prevent the instability from spilling over to neighboring countries, (iv) to calm down the situation as soon as possible, and (v) to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The two leaders also concurred that they would continue to cooperate in addressing various regional and international challenges such as North Korea.
Document Exchange Ceremony and Joint Press Occasion
In the presence of the two leaders, the following documents on bilateral cooperation were exchanged.
Exchange of Notes for OSA to the Republic of the Philippines concerning the provision of coastal surveillance radar system.
Exchange of Notes for ODA to the Republic of the Philippines concerning the provision of construction equipment for disaster quick response operation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Memorandum of Cooperation in the Field of Tourism Between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the Department of Tourism of the Republic of the Philippines.
Memorandum of Cooperation on Mining Sector Between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Republic of the Philippines
After the Document Exchange Ceremony, the two leaders held a Joint Press Occasion.