PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. is set to leave today to Indonesia to attend the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits that will start tomorrow.
During the three-day visit, the President will also hold meetings with other world leaders and business investors in a bid to strengthen ties with other nations and to invite more investors to the Philippines.
The President is set to leave this afternoon with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Social welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, among others. Vice President Sara Duterte is expected to head the caretaker committee while Marcos is abroad.
The Department of Foreign Affairs last week said the President, while in Jakarta, will have meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, among others. He will discuss with the prime minister efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership between the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as a cooperation on rice and food security
He will also talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet about efforts to protect migrant workers in crisis situations and human trafficking.
Marcos is also set to meet with Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmí£o to congratulate him on his assumption to office last July and assure hm of the Philippines support for membership to ASEAN, and with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss new areas of cooperation in time for the 75th-year anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea and thank his the
Marcos will attend 13 leaders’ level engagements which include the 43rd ASEAN Summit Plenary Session, the Opening Ceremony of the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum and then the 43rd ASEAN Summit Retreat Session on September 5; the 26th ASEAN-China Summit, the 24th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit, the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit, the 26th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the ASEAN-US Summit, and the ASEAN-Canada Summit and on September 6; and 20th ASEAN-India Summit, the 18th East Asia Summit, the 3rd ASEAN-Australia Summit and the 30th ASEAN-UN Summit on September 7.
He is expected to promote the country’s interest during these meetings and advocate for the addressing of climate change, strengthening of food and energy security, harnessing the potential of the digital and creative industries, promoting the rights of micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and protecting migrant workers and combating trafficking of persons especially with the use of digital technology.
He is also expected to push for a joint statement to address China’s recent actions in the South China Sea, and promote a rules-based international order, amid the recent cases of harassment by China against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea.
The President will also attend a meeting with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and another business forum to pitch trade and investment.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said among the business executives Marcos will meet with are from WIR Asia which intends to expand one of its subsidiaries in the Philippines, and with Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.
Espiritu said WIR Asia’s P1 billion expansion would be on “innovations in metaverse and artificial intelligence applications,” while Pasifik Satelit Nusantara is expected to update the President on the progress of its projects in Philippines such as the launching of a satellite in December 2023, and the allocation of 13.5 gigabytes per second of bandwidth for the Philippines.
The President is also expected to meet with executives of the Darya-Varia Laboratoria and Vaksindo Satwa Nusantara about its plans to provide influenza vaccine to the Philippines.
It will be Marcos’ eighth trip abroad this year. The first was a state visit to China in January, followed by his attendance to the World Economic Forum on the same month, official visits to Japan and the United States in May, the attendance to the coronation of King Charles III in the United Kingdom in May, and the ASEAN Summit in Indonesia (May), and state visit to Malaysia in July.
He is expected to attend the APEC Summit in San Francisco in the US in November this year.
