PRESIDENT Marcos received in Malacañang on Tuesday the new ambassadors to Manila of Vietnam and Timor-Leste and expressed hope for progress in the commitments made to one another as regional partners in Southeast Asia.
New Vietnam Ambassador to the Philippines Lai Thai Binh was reminded of the two countries’ commitments to each other, which Mr. Marcos said were made on the sidelines of previous meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“It is just in time as we have many things planned between our two countries and I’m very happy to have received your letter of credence,” Mr. Marcos said as he accepted the credentials of the Vietnamese envoy at the presidential palace.
“And I think that there are many, many more things that your PM and I have discussed for many hours during our ASEAN meetings. We have many areas that we can explore,” he added. “For that, I look forward to doing that.”
Vietnam and the Philippines officially established diplomatic relations in 1976.
In September last year, Mr. Marcos said Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had proposed a five-year rice importation plan to him, as the Philippines struggled with the commodity’s rising prices.
Also on Tuesday, the President accepted the credentials of Marciano Octavio Garcia Da Silva as Resident Ambassador-Designate of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the Philippines.
“This is indicative of the growing partnership that your country and mine through our bilateral relationships, together with the multilateral relationships, have progressed in the last few years,” he told the Timor-Lester envoy.
Mr. Marcos met with Timor-Lester President José Ramos-Horta in November as part of the latter’s four-day state visit to the Philippines.
During their meeting, Mr. Marcos reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to support Timor-Leste’s development through the “South-South Cooperation.” – Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
