The governments of the Philippines and The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have agreed that there was a need to ramp up their cooperation to address the ongoing threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Office of the President (OP) made the statement after President Duterte and Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud had a phone conversation Wednesday evening.
In its statement, the OP said both leaders emphasized the need to combat the pandemic.
"Both the President and the Crown Prince agreed on the need to ramp up cooperation to address the COVID-19 pandemic," the OP's statement read.
President Duterte has been stressing the need for universal access to vaccines to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that nations must work together towards equitable access to life-saving vaccines, particularly for developing and least developed nations.
His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had called on the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies to work towards affordable and equitable access to vaccines.
"We must work to create the conditions for affordable and equitable access to these tools for all peoples," he had said.
The Philippines has reached 1,073,555 cases of COVID-19 on May 5, 2021. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has reported a total of 422,316 COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, President Duterte thanked the Crown Prince after Saudi Arabia included Filipinos in the Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
Bin Salman assured Duterte that the vaccination program will be implemented until all Filipinos in the Kingdom are inoculated.
The Arabian monarch has assured President Duterte that Saudi Arabia is committed to protecting and upholding the rights of Filipino workers in the Kingdom.