The Philippines and Timor-Leste have agreed to prioritize their cooperation on higher education, health and social security, among others, as their leaders commit to improve the lives of their peoples.
This came as Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta came to the Philippines for a state visit that included a bilateral talk with President Marcos.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), both leaders directed their concerned agencies to renew the Memorandum of Agreement on Cooperation in Higher Education; and to conclude at an early date the negotiations on a Memorandum of Understanding on Health Cooperation as well as the Agreement on Social Security and on Air Services Agreement (ASA) in relation to the mentioned goals.
During their talk on Friday, Nov. 10, Ramos-Horta and Marcos assessed the state of relations between the two countries, which began in 2002 when the Joint Communique on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations was signed.
The Philippines and Timor-Leste shared views that they have acted with mutual respect and shared common values of democracy and human rights, and that there are still potentials for deeper and further cooperation.
"Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to promote visits and exchanges at all levels, with the view to strengthen further relations by encouraging officials to make use of the existing bilateral policy dialogue mechanism," DFA said in a statement.
"Both leaders further instructed the relevant government departments to resume and convene the next policy consultation mechanism in Timor-Leste in order to discuss the various issues and avenues of cooperation between the two countries," it added.
Marcos also reaffirmed the Philippines' support for Timor-Leste's bid to become full member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Both leaders discussed technical cooperation, such as their plans to address the socio-economic challenges in Timor-Leste.
"The Philippines expresses readiness to provide capacity building projects for Timor-Leste, in consideration of Philippine expertise and the needs of Timor-Leste, as part of the Philippines’ contributions to support the early realization of Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership," DFA said.
"The two Leaders directed their relevant agencies to discuss further details to ensure the successful implementation of these projects," it added.