The Philippine President's visit to Vietnam takes place in the context of the Vietnam-Philippines friendship and strategic partnership developing well in all fields.
At the invitation ofPresident of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong and his wife, President of the Republic of the Philippines Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and his wife will pay a State visit to Vietnam from January 29 to 30, 2024.
This is the first visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. to Vietnam since taking office.
The visit takes place in the context of the Vietnam-Philippines friendship and strategic partnership developing well in all fields.
Friendship and multifaceted cooperation are increasingly developing and deepening.
Vietnam and the Philippines officially established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1976. As two countries in the same region, Vietnam and the Philippines have many similarities in history and culture; the people of the two countries have a long-standing understanding and traditional friendship.
Over the years, the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries have increasingly developed substantially and deepened, especially since the two countries established a Strategic Partnership in November 2015.
The two sides regularly maintain high-level visits and contacts at all levels through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges.
On the Vietnamese side, the most recent was the visit to the Philippines by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos (July 2022) and the official visit to the Philippines by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (November 2022)...
On the Philippine side, there were recent visits by President Rodrigo Duterte (September 2016 and November 2017); Foreign Minister Teodoro Lopez Locsin (July 2019) and Foreign Minister Enrique A. Manalo (August 2023)...
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 Ministers' level on Bilateral Cooperation (Hanoi, August 2023).
In addition to the good political-diplomatic relations, defense-security cooperation, and maritime and ocean cooperation between the two countries are also increasingly developing substantially and effectively.
The two sides have a Joint Working Group mechanism on Seas and Oceans, which meets annually and has been upgraded to the Joint Committee on Seas and Oceans at the Deputy Foreign Minister level (February 2012).
Regarding maritime cooperation, the two sides are promoting negotiations on a Trade Transport Agreement to replace the Vietnam-Philippines Maritime Transport Agreement signed in February 1992...
In addition, the two sides also shared the need to expand cooperation in potential areas such as climate change response, green growth, digital transformation, and e-commerce.
In order to promote the substantive relationship and enhance the effectiveness of cooperation, the two sides have signed many important agreements, typically: Bilateral Cooperation Framework in the first 25 years of the 21st century and the following period, Action Program for the 2007-2010 and 2011-2016 periods... The two countries are currently making efforts to implement the Action Program to implement the Strategic Partnership for the 2019-2024 period.
Vietnam and the Philippines also closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums. Both countries are proactive, active and responsible members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); making efforts to build the ASEAN Community and promote the Association’s central role, contributing to ensuring stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. On the issue of the East Sea, the two countries have many similarities in their stances…
Striving to soon bring bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD
Vietnam and the Philippines have many advantages to develop economic, trade and investment cooperation. Both countries have large consumer markets and abundant labor resources.
In recent years, the economies of both countries have had high growth rates in the Asian region. Both sides have similarities in tastes as well as requirements for quality and price for most types of goods.
As ASEAN members, both countries are benefiting from incentives within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community.
In recent years, trade cooperation has been a bright spot in the relationship between the two countries. Bilateral trade turnover in 2023 reached 7.8 billion USD. Vietnam exported 5.15 billion USD, Vietnam imported 2.65 billion USD.
The Philippines is currently Vietnam's leading rice consumer market, with rice exports to the Philippines in 2023 reaching 3.1 million tons (equivalent to 1.75 billion USD), accounting for over 38% of the country's total rice exports.
Besides the trade benefits, Vietnam's rice exports to the Philippines also contribute to the Philippine Government's efforts to ensure food security.
In the context of Vietnam being the leading agricultural exporter in the region and the Philippines being the second most populous country in ASEAN, agricultural cooperation between the two countries still has many opportunities to further develop.
Recently, on the occasion of attending the 44th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-44) in Jakarta, Indonesia (August 2023), National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met with Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
The two leaders agreed to promote substantive development of bilateral relations, especially in the fields of economics, trade and investment, striving to soon bring bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD.
As of December 20, 2023, the Philippines has 95 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 608.2 million USD, ranking 31st out of 144 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue suggested that Vietnam and the Philippines need to cooperate to develop supply chains, facilitating the import of key Vietnamese goods, including rice, construction materials, as well as goods that the Philippines has potential for and Vietnam has demand for.
Regarding investment, more and more Philippine businesses are investing and actively seeking opportunities to expand their business in Vietnam.
As of December 20, 2023, the Philippines has 95 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 608.2 million USD, ranking 31st out of 144 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
The two countries currently maintain the Vietnam-Philippines Joint Trade Subcommittee and the Vietnam-Philippines Business Council, which are tasked with promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Strengthening cooperation in many fields
Besides trade and investment cooperation, culture, education and tourism are also areas in which the two countries always strengthen activities and cooperation.
The two sides are completing negotiations on the Cultural Cooperation Program for the 2024-2028 period and discussing the Program to implement the Tourism Cooperation Agreement between the Philippine Department of Tourism and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for the 2024-2028 period.
Two-way tourist arrivals have recovered well after a period affected by the pandemic.
In 2022, Vietnam welcomed 49,266 Filipino visitors; the Philippines welcomed 25,907 Vietnamese visitors.
In the first 9 months of 2023, Vietnam welcomed nearly 130,000 Filipino visitors; the Philippines welcomed nearly 52,000 visitors from Vietnam, equivalent to the same period in 2019.
Over the years, the activities of “Vietnamese Cultural Days in the Philippines,” “Philippine Cultural Days in Vietnam,” art exhibitions and culinary festivals have brought the people of the two countries closer and more intimate, and helped them understand each other better about their cultures and arts that are imbued with each other’s national identities.
The number of Vietnamese students and postgraduates studying at Philippine universities is increasing day by day (in 2006 there were only a few hundred people, now there are over a few thousand people).
People-to-people exchange activities between the two countries are also promoted with the core being the Philippines-Vietnam Friendship Association and the Vietnam-Philippines Friendship Association (established in 2014).
Home to nearly 5,000 Filipinos, Vietnam also has about 3,000 citizens living, studying and working in this island nation. These expatriates are contributing to the socio-economic development of both countries.
With the foundation of nearly 50 years of good relations, the official visit to Vietnam by the President of the Philippines this time will contribute to deepening the Vietnam-Philippines Strategic Partnership in general and the relationship between the two countries' senior leaders in particular; strengthening bilateral relations in all fields, especially economics-trade-investment, health, education-training; defense-security./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/thuc-day-quan-he-viet-nam-philippines-ngay-cang-hieu-qua-thiet-thuc-post923491.vnp
Source
![[Photo] Party and State leaders visit former President Tran Duc Luong](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/5/24/960db9b19102400e8df68d5a6caadcf6)
![[Photo] Ho Chi Minh City holds funeral for former President Tran Duc Luong](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/5/24/9c1858ebd3d04170b6cef2e6bcb2019e)
Comment (0)