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| President Vo Van Thuong met with Philippine President Bongbong Marcos and Australian Governor-General David John Hurley on the occasion of attending the coronation ceremony of British King Charles III and Queen Camilla in London from May 4-6, 2023. (Source: VNA) |
Could you share the significance and key points of the visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. this time and what prospects will the visit open for the strategic partnership between the two countries, Ambassador?
On July 12, 1976, the Philippines, one of the five founding member states of ASEAN, officially established diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The friendship and cooperation relations quickly developed substantially and in depth. The two sides upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership on November 17, 2015, on the occasion of President Truong Tan Sang's visit to the Philippines to attend the 23rd APEC Summit.
Since then, the two countries have maintained regular high-level delegation exchanges, including former Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte's official visit to Vietnam in September 2016 and attendance at the APEC Summit in Da Nang in November 2027, and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the Philippines to attend the 30th and 31st ASEAN Summits in April and November 2017.
Building on that positive momentum, the two sides have been promoting preparations for the State visit of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Vietnam since President Marcos took office on June 30, 2022. The visit aims to reaffirm the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, enhance political trust at the highest levels, create momentum to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields, through all channels of the Party, Government, State, National Assembly and People, ahead of major milestones in the bilateral relationship such as the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2025 and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Diplomatic Relations in 2026.
During the visit, President Marcos will be received with the most noble and solemn diplomatic ceremonies, before having important meetings with our Senior Leaders. President Marcos is also expected to attend a business connection program to promote cooperation between the two countries in the private sector, and join our Senior Leaders in cultural activities to strengthen the friendship and neighborliness between the two countries. The two sides are expected to exchange documents and agreements on political - economic - cultural cooperation. Currently, relevant agencies of the two sides are actively and urgently completing the final preparations for the most effective and successful visit.
The visit will contribute to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries, bringing real benefits to the people of the two countries, making an important contribution to strengthening ASEAN solidarity and ASEAN's central role, creating and maintaining an environment of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region as well as in the world.
Vietnam and the Philippines are aiming for a bilateral trade turnover of 10 billion USD. Could you tell us the main features of the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and how the business communities of both sides will have to work to achieve this trade turnover target?
Economic and trade cooperation and exchange between Vietnam and the Philippines have been established for a long time, centuries ago, mainly through the sea route, when ships from Luzon regularly visited, anchored and exchanged goods in the Gulf of Tonkin and Hoi An.
Today, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries covers a wide range of areas, from key cooperation in rice and other traditional commodities, to investment cooperation and cooperation in emerging areas related to green economy and sustainable development.
Bilateral trade turnover has more than tripled over the past 13 years, from 2.5 billion USD in 2010 to 5.3 billion USD in 2020, 6.7 billion USD in 2021, 7.8 billion USD in 2022 and remained at 7.8 billion USD in 2023 despite adverse fluctuations in the global market, in which Vietnam's trade surplus with the Philippines continued to increase to 2.5 billion USD.
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| Ambassador Lai Thai Binh and his wife take a photo with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Credentials Presentation Ceremony, January 2, 2024. (Source: Embassy of Vietnam in the Philippines) |
Vietnam is currently a strategic supplier for more than 85% of the Philippines' rice imports, playing an important role in ensuring food security for the country. In contrast, rice exports to the Philippines account for about 40% of our total rice exports, making the Philippines a leading important market in ensuring stable output for our farmers and rice businesses, and currently still has a lot of potential for expansion.
In addition, other strong products of Vietnam in the Philippine market include coffee, pepper, seafood, animal feed, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, chemical products, iron and steel products, clinker and cement, textiles, garments, and footwear. Meanwhile, we also import from the Philippines a large amount of electronic products and components, machinery, equipment, spare parts, and other base metals.
In November 2022, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue had a very successful visit to the Philippines. Speaking at the Vietnam - Philippines Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum held in Manila within the framework of the visit, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue assigned the business communities of the two countries to strive towards the target of a trade turnover of 10 billion USD. This target was further agreed upon by both sides at the 10th meeting of the Vietnam - Philippines Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC 10) held in August 2023 as well as other related meetings.
10 billion USD is not a very large number, especially when compared to Vietnam's bilateral trade with other key partners. However, considering the scale, potential and growth rate of the current trade between the two countries, 10 billion USD is a reasonable target to strive for, through trade promotion activities, promoting traffic connections, payment mechanism connections as well as legal and telecommunication connections; at the same time, seeking opportunities in opening markets for new products, in parallel with attracting and encouraging businesses of the two countries to explore opportunities and expand investment in each other's markets.
As two of the most dynamically developing economies in the region, with a young workforce and a rapidly growing middle-income class, large consumer markets, and strengths in production and complementary consumer tastes, I believe that the economic and trade relations between the two countries will continue to develop smoothly, soon achieving the goals set by the two countries' senior leaders.
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Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo co-chaired the 10th Meeting of the Vietnam-Philippines Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation on August 2, 2023. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
Could you please tell us about the cooperation situation in other new areas such as digital economy, circular economy, marine economy, food security, local cooperation... between the two countries and the expectations for cooperation between the two sides in these potential areas, Ambassador?
The regional and global situation has undergone many major and unpredictable changes in recent times. The world economy has not yet fully recovered from the difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic, and continues to be severely affected by the prolonged armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, disrupting global energy and food markets, breaking supply chains and escalating inflation.
Along with that, there continue to be difficulties due to global issues such as climate change, environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources and non-traditional security challenges. In such a difficult context, the need for cooperation and mutual support between Vietnam and the Philippines is enormous, through bilateral channels, within the framework of international organizations such as ASEAN, the United Nations as well as flexible cooperation according to issues and groups of countries.
In recent times, the two sides have actively exchanged, sought opportunities and promoted cooperation in new areas such as digital economy, marine economy, green and sustainable development, environmental protection, supply chain connectivity, etc. Through the State visit of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Vietnam, opportunities to expand cooperation on climate, environment and local cooperation will be increased.
With similar needs, capacities and conditions, within the framework of a very favorable Strategic Partnership, the two sides have great potential to exchange experiences and complement and support each other, promoting cooperation in new areas, directly through bilateral channels as well as within the current diverse frameworks of ASEAN.
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Vietnam is the Philippines' largest rice supplier. (Source: VNA) |
Vietnam is the Philippines' only strategic partner in ASEAN and the two countries share many similarities and strategic interests in the region. What is your assessment of this assessment, Ambassador?
Vietnam and the Philippines truly share many similarities, having both emerged from agricultural countries on the coast of the East Sea, having experienced countless difficulties during the feudal and colonial periods, and sharing the aspiration to rise up and strive for peace, stability and prosperity for the people of the two countries.
Vietnam and the Philippines also share similar geographical areas and population sizes, along with many other similarities in culture and human characteristics. To date, Vietnam is the only country in ASEAN that has established a Strategic Partnership with the Philippines, and is the Philippines' third Strategic Partner after the United States and Japan.
In the coming time, the Strategic Partnership between the two countries will still have a lot of potential and room to continue to expand and deepen, including maintaining and improving the effectiveness of existing maritime dialogue and cooperation mechanisms; expanding cooperation in defense industry, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, disaster prevention; strengthening cooperation in preventing transnational crimes and responding to traditional and non-traditional security challenges.
Within the framework of ASEAN, the two countries still have many opportunities to cooperate to strengthen solidarity and promote ASEAN's central role, especially in the context of complex and unpredictable political and security fluctuations continuing to occur in the region, including the situation in Myanmar and the East Sea.
At multilateral forums, the two countries share interests and the need to cooperate in promoting compliance with international law, ensuring a rules-based international order, and enhancing international cooperation to respond to global issues, for peace, stability and common prosperity in the region as well as the world.
Thank you very much Ambassador!
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