President Vo Van Thuong and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. review the Vietnam People's Army's Guard of Honor. Photo: VNA

The delegation included: Speaker of the House of Representatives Ferdinand Martin Romualdez; Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo; Agriculture Secretary Francisco T. Laurel; Trade and Investment Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual; Chief of the Presidential Liaison Office Cheloy Velicaria Garafil; National Security Council Chairman Eduardo M. Año; Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Meynardo LB. Montealegre; leaders and representatives of the Department of Labor and Immigration, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and presidential advisors and special envoys.

With the national anthems of the two countries playing, 21 cannon salutes resounded from Thang Long Imperial Citadel in the highest welcome ceremony for the State visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife and high-ranking delegation.

At the welcoming ceremony, President Vo Van Thuong invited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to inspect the Vietnam People's Army Honor Guard and the two leaders witnessed the welcoming parade of the Vietnam People's Army Honor Guard.

Previously, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife, along with the high-ranking delegation, laid wreaths at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs; laid flowers and visited President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

President Vo Van Thuong and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr at the welcoming ceremony. Photo: VNA

Vietnam and the Philippines established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1976; signed the Joint Statement establishing a Strategic Partnership on November 17, 2015 and signed the Action Program to implement the Strategic Partnership for the period 2019 - 2024 in March 2019. The two countries regularly exchange delegations and hold high-level contacts.

In recent times, the two sides have actively implemented bilateral cooperation mechanisms, most recently successfully organizing the 10th Meeting of the Joint Committee at the Foreign Ministerial level on Bilateral Cooperation (Hanoi, August 1-2, 2023). In regional and international issues, the two sides regularly coordinate and support each other at many important international forums and organizations such as the United Nations, ASEAN, etc. On the issue of the East Sea, the two countries have many similarities in their stance.

Bilateral trade turnover increased from 2.9 billion USD in 2012 to 7.8 billion USD in 2022; by the end of November 2023, the total two-way trade turnover reached 7.1 billion USD. The Philippines is Vietnam's largest rice export market with an export volume of 2.63 million tons in the first 11 months of 2023, equivalent to 1.41 billion USD. The Philippines has 92 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 608 million USD, ranking 31st out of 143. Vietnam has 5 investment projects in the Philippines with a total capital of nearly 4 million USD. The Philippines is currently Vietnam's 16th largest trading partner in the world and 6th in ASEAN.

President Vo Van Thuong and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. with children in the capital at the welcoming ceremony. Photo: VNA

Vietnam and the Philippines actively implemented signed agreements and mechanisms; agreed to expand cooperation in the fields of defense industry, logistics, military medicine, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, transnational crime prevention and control, counter-terrorism, etc., while accelerating negotiations and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Logistics Support, and Agreements on extradition and transfer of sentenced persons.

The two sides have a mechanism of a Joint Working Group on Seas and Oceans, which meets annually and has been upgraded to a Joint Committee on Seas and Oceans at the Deputy Foreign Minister level (February 2012).

Currently, there are about 30,000 Vietnamese people working in the Philippines and about 700 students studying in the Philippines.

Immediately after the official welcoming ceremony, President Vo Van Thuong held talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.; the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two sides.

On the same day, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; met with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue; and visited Thang Long Imperial Citadel with President Vo Van Thuong...

According to NDO