Malaysia, Philippines to explore new sectors of cooperation

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the Malacanang Palace in Manila. (Bernama pic)

MANILA: Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed to explore further cooperation in various sectors to elevate their bilateral relationship.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the bilateral cooperation would be multi-sectoral, covering trade and investment, education, health and agriculture, among others.

‘We also discussed areas for further collaboration. New and important sectors such as the halal industry, food security and digital economy are among the key areas that I proposed for potential cooperation,” he said.

The prime minister said this during a joint press briefing with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr after a bilateral meeting at the Malacanang Palace today.

Earlier, the special aircraft carrying Anwar and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail arrived at Villamor Air Base here for his two-day official visit to the Philippines.

Both countries, according to Anwar, had also agreed to resume the 8th Joint Commission Meeting to be led by both foreign ministers this year at a mutually convenient date.

The prime minister also spoke of enhancing people-to-people ties between Malaysia and the Philippines and continuing cultural exchanges and tourism.

On the South China Sea issue, Anwar said he discussed it with Marcos and both leaders shared their concerns over the matter.

“Due to the complexity of the issue, we should try and engage and take a position at the multilateral level within Asean so that we have a comprehensive approach and can achieve an amicable solution to this outstanding problem,” he said.

The prime minister also expressed concern over the situation in Myanmar, which had adversely affected Malaysia due to the huge number of refugees from the country.

He said the number of Myanmar refugees in Malaysia had exceeded 200,000 people.

“The president, in his wisdom, has reiterated the need for the five-point consensus, but I would certainly suggest exploring new areas on how the Myanmar junta can be persuaded to work and collaborate as a team within Asean and resolve the outstanding issue which cannot be considered as purely internal because it is affecting the security and welfare of the region,” he said. - FMT