Vietnam, Philippines Setting Positive Tone for New Level of Relations

Bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam has steadily grown since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two sides in 1976. In recent years, the two sides have achieved significant progress in terms of trade and investment with the following activities: The conduct of the Philippines-Vietnam Business Forum in October 2011; The conduct of an exploratory Philippine outbound business mission to Vietnam in 2012; The conduct of an outbound construction business mission to Vietnam led by the Philippine Overseas Construction Board (POCB) in September 2015; and the establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the Philippines and Vietnam in November 2015 at the sidelines of the 23^rd APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in Manila.

 

The recent establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the two sides provides impetus not only for enhanced political-security cooperation, but also for enhanced economic cooperation, particularly in trade and investment. In this regard, the two sides are now working on maximizing the use of existing bilateral economic mechanisms such as the Joint Commission on Trade and on strengthening collaboration with the private sector through the Philippines-Vietnam Friendship Association.

In celebration of the 40 years of friendship and cooperation between the two sides, the Embassy has a series of activities lined up for 2016, which includes, among other events, a gala event featuring a Philippine cultural troupe and a food festival.

 

The gala event shall serve as an opportunity to highlight Philippine performing arts and to promote tourism, while the food festival aims to highlight Filipino cuisine for the benefit of local Vietnamese diners for about one week. These activities aim to highlight aspects of Filipino culture through music, visual arts and cuisine.

 

These events aim not only to provide a showcase of Filipino culture, but to celebrate the achievements made by the two sides throughout 40 years of formal diplomatic ties and friendship, and set a positive tone for the two sides for the years to come.

 

The establishment of the Strategic Partnership between the Philippines and Vietnam is a clear sign of how much stronger relations between the two sides have grown over the decades. Nevertheless, this new level of relations provides both the opportunity and the impetus to maximize the use of existing bilateral mechanisms and to explore other areas of cooperation. Given the shared challenges that the two sides face as fellow ASEAN Member States and fellow members of the global community of nations, we must always seek ways to increase opportunities for interaction and tangible results that would benefit our respective peoples.

 

The Philippines intends to facilitate the conduct of more outbound business missions to Vietnam, as well as increase the participation of Philippine enterprises in business matching activities and trade exhibitions. The Philippines is also looking at increasing official exchanges between relevant economic officials to increase information-sharing and consultation.