MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. today expressed his willingness to explore and enhance bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and Zimbabwe.
“I hope that we will find many things to explore,” President Marcos told Zimbabwean non-resident Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Constance Chemwayi during her presentation of credentials at the Malacañan Palace on Thursday.
The Philippines and Zimbabwe commemorated the 43rd anniversary of diplomatic relations, having been formally established on April 18, 1980.
Noting that Chemwayi will be based in Malaysia, President Marcos said that he is looking forward to her future visits to the country to assess the potential between the two countries and to show her the beauty of the Philippines.
“I hope that your coming today will be the beginning of that close ties,” President Marcos told Chemwayi, who thanked the chief executive for welcoming her to the Philippines since her arrival on Monday.
Chemwayi said that she is looking forward to a lot of things that Zimbabwe can learn from the Philippines, in terms of how the country developed and in terms of how the country is boosting its economy, making it more food sufficient.
She said that they are now prioritizing enhancing their agricultural and infrastructure sector with the goal to become a middle-income country by 2030 as she emphasized that they are also pushing for the creation of more agricultural universities.
President Marcos said that the Philippines is more than willing to extend a helping hand to Zimbabwe.
“Like you, we are prioritizing agriculture. And in fact, it is both the supply and the price of agricultural commodities. And with that, we talk not only about products, but even the inputs such as fertilizer. I think we are all undergoing that,” President Marcos said.
“So, I hope that we can find a way. We happen to have a very well-developed research and development and schools that have been actually the premier schools for agriculturists and agronomists here in Asia,” he added.
President Marcos underscored the importance of forging an agreement with the government of Zimbabwe to rationalize and institutionalize efforts to boost the agricultural and education sectors of both countries. (PND)
