MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Non-Resident Malawi Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Kwacha Chisiza agreed on Thursday to further enhance the cooperation between the two countries in terms of agriculture and student exchange.

On the sidelines of the presentation of Chisiza’s credentials at the Malacañan Palace, President Marcos said that the Philippine government is happy to share knowledge with the Malawi government on improving their agricultural sector, especially on enhancing rice production level.

President Marcos urged Chisiza to send their technicians, scientists, and actual practitioners to the Philippines for them to see the country’s research and techniques in rice and corn production and other efforts to enhance the agricultural sector, which can be developed in their country.

“So, if we can get it started, Your Excellency, I think it would be of great benefit to both our countries because generally, what flows from this kind of partnership is with – is straight, will come from that and we are, of course, always looking to increase our trade with all our partners,” President Marcos said.

“So, again, the future is ripe with opportunity. I think it is a good time to take that opportunity for Malawi and for the Philippines together,” the chief executive added.

For his part, Chisiza told President Marcos that he appreciated his warm welcome in receiving his credentials as he hopes to stay longer in the Philippines to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Malawi.

Chisiza said that there are a lot of common areas in which the Philippines and Malawi can benefit from one another.

“We see a lot of interest in the agriculture sector that the Philippines has and our economy in Malawi is predominantly dependent on agriculture. We want [to learn] about the Philippines and large quantities of rice production which in our country, it is the second staple food,” Chisiza told President Marcos.

Chisiza shared that about “Malawi Vision 2063,” which focuses on three important pillars: agriculture productivity and commercialization; industrialization; and urbanization as he invited President Marcos to consider visiting their country in his future official trips.

Aside from enhancing rice production levels, Chisiza said that the Malawi government is also interested in student exchange between their country and the Philippines as he emphasized that they can learn a lot from moral and technical expertise in the Philippines.

“We see a lot of universities in the Philippines. One of the areas that we are focusing on, hopefully, we can have Malawi students to come and visit here, who also like to have more technical expertise from the Philippines coming to Malawi,” Chisiza said.

“So, we’re already – that is a very good synergy between our countries,” he added.

President Marcos said that he is very happy to receive the credentials of Chisiza as he emphasized that he is already seeing a brighter partnership between the Philippines and Malawi with the visit of the Ambassador. (PND)