MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Saturday to further strengthen the partnership between their two governments.

The two leaders had a brief chat at the sidelines of the ASEAN-Plus Three (APT) Summit, with Prime Minister Kishida saying he was very pleased to have a very rich and thorough conversation back in September with the President. 

“Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN. And I look forward to advancing the cooperation between ASEAN and Japan,” PM Kishida told President Marcos.

In response to the Japanese PM, the President said: “All of the concepts that we first started to discuss when we were in New York, we are continuing to develop in our government so that when the time comes this concept that you have introduced to us on economic stability, is something… that ASEAN, the Philippines --- we will continue to develop more of these ideas, and these concepts.”

Marcos also told Kishida that as long as they are together, they can achieve anything.

The Japanese leader said he looks forward to receiving President Marcos in Japan. No date has yet been set for the State visit.

Japan has been the country’s partner in various fields such disaster management, COVID-19 response and infrastructure development. (PND)