Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (L) welcomes Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich (Source: pcoo.gov.ph)Manila(VNA) – The Philippines treasures cooperation with Vietnam and hopes to furtherdevelop bilateral defence ties, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told VietnameseMinister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich.
At a reception forthe minister in Manila on October 25 as part of Lich’s visit to thePhilippines, President Duterte affirmed that defence is one of the majorpillars in the Philippines-Vietnam strategic partnership. He vowed to continuebacking collaboration between the two armies.
General Lich congratulatedthe Philippines on fulfilling its role as the ASEAN Chair in 2017, confirmingthat the country has contributed to boosting defence cooperation within theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and between ASEAN and itspartners.
On October 26,Minister Lich held talks with his Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana,during which he affirmed the Philippines is an important and prioritisedpartner in Vietnam’s foreign policy.
Lorenzana saidthat the Philippines wants to strengthen relations with Vietnam, with prioritygiven to defence ties. He pledged to do his utmost to deepen bilateral defence cooperation.
To continue theeffective implementation of agreements, the ministers agreed to maintain theexchange of delegations, boost exchanges between young officers, and promotethe efficiency of the deputy ministerial defence policy dialogue.
They committed tointensifying collaboration in training, supporting each other at multilateralforums and coordinating in studying and producing products of the defenceindustry.
As the region isfacing numerous non-traditional security challenges, the ministers agreed tostrengthen cooperation between the two armies, especially naval and coastguardforces, and study a cooperation mechanism between law enforcement forces at seato maintain peace and security in the region and ensure safety forfishermen.-VNA
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