PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday asked US President Joe Biden to use his country's clout to control rising prices of fuel.
At the 10th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-US Summit here, Marcos appealed to Biden to take advantage of his country's “global influence” to help ease the global plight of dealing with the high cost of fuel.
“We also encourage the US’ long-term support for the implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation,” he said.
Biden announced that he requested for an $850 million -assistance for the region for 2023.
The US president said ASEAN was at the heart of his administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
The launch of the new comprehensive strategic partnership between the US and ASEAN begins a new era in their relationship, where they will tackle the biggest issues facing the region and the world together in order to build an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure, he added.
In his speech, Marcos also asked for US backing in terms of addressing climate change—the same appeal he made to fellow ASEAN leaders, as well as dialogue partners.
He expressed his hopes that the US would support the works of the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity.
“The Center preserves ASEAN’s varied ecosystems and mainstream biodiversity across relevant sectors. This is to increase resilience against climate change and its impacts and natural disasters,” Marcos said.
“Furthermore, its work is critical in mitigating emerging and re-emerging infectious zoonotic diseases and pandemics,” he added.