President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked Israel to enhance cooperation with the Philippines in agriculture to address local food security, Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss said.
Fluss said this as the Philippines and Israel reaffirmed their strong ties during the 12th Philippines-Israel Joint Commission Meeting (Israel-Philippine Political Dialogue) last week.
In his remarks, Fluss said Israel was more than willing to share its agricultural expertise with the Philippines.
"We are happy to share our expertise in the field of agriculture with the Philippines to address productivity and food security," he said.
The solar-powered irrigation project, the agriculture internship program in Israel for Filipinos, and the Philippines-Israel dairy programs were also discussed.
The Commission aimed to discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs Rafael Harpaz headed the delegation from Israel. At the same time, Assistant Secretary for Office of Middle East and African Affairs Alfonso Ferdinand Agbayani Ver led the Philippine delegation.
Harpaz served as the Ambassador of Israel to the Philippines from 2018 to 2021.
In a statement, the Israel Embassy said the Commission reviewed the relations between the two countries while highlighting the main areas of cooperation, including agriculture, trade and economy, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel, innovation and technology, defense, and tourism.
Harpaz emphasized the historically close and warm relations between the two countries. He also congratulated the expansion of the Israeli Embassy in Manila, which recently opened two new offices: the Economic and Trade Mission and the Office of the Defense Attaché.
He highlighted the cooperation during the pandemic, including the early vaccination of all OFWs in Israel and the deployment of Israeli medical teams to Manila to share the Israeli experience on the vaccination campaign and the clinical treatment.
Meanwhile, the Israeli delegation emphasized building bridges of innovations between the two countries in agritech, watertech, cybersecurity, and ICT and connectivity, among others.
Also included in the agenda were counterterrorism and the expansion of the defense cooperation between Israel with the Philippines.
The delegations likewise discussed regional and international topics such as bilateral political relations, developments in the Middle East and the Abraham Accords, Iran, and the West Philippine Sea.