President Marcos called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three (APT) anew to boost its staple food reserves to better prepare for crises threatening food security in the region.

In his speech at the 27th APT Summit in Laos, Marcos re-echoed the 2024 World Risk Index where the Philippines was named among the countries with the highest risk of experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change.

The President noted this could severely affect Philippine agriculture and access to food.

“Thus, I continue to urge APTERR (ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve) Working Groups to seek ways to strengthen its mechanisms as well as to boost its rice and other staple food reserves to better prepare for emergencies that threaten food security in the region,” he said.

Marcos has been advocating for support to the APTERR Agreement since his first participation in the APT Summit.

He also commended the extension of the Tier 1 APTERR programme for another three-year term from 2024-2027.

The extension “will definitely help ensure food security in the Philippines by diversifying supply sources and, therefore, enhance Filipinos’ resilience to potential adverse situations or calamities,” he said.

Marcos likewise welcomed the new cooperation programs in the APT Cooperation Work Plan 2023-2027 covering trade and investment through increased utilization of free trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, and other regional economic tie-ups.

The APT Cooperation Work Plan serves as a principal guide to enhance APT cooperation over the next five years towards achieving the long-term goal of establishing an East Asia community with ASEAN as the driving force.

“As we look ahead towards APT’s future, I am pleased to welcome new cooperation programs in the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan of 2023-2027, especially in the areas of trade and investment through increased utilization of the ASEAN Plus One FTAs with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP,” Marcos said in his intervention during the 27th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

The program also covers sustainable tourism and people-to-people connectivity; energy security; sustainable development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); science, technology, and innovation and digital economy.

According to the President, ASEAN greatly benefited from APT programs over the past 27 years, posting more than a quarter percent increase both in total trade between ASEAN and the Plus Three countries to almost $1.1 trillion.

He added the foreign direct investments (FDIs) from the Plus Three countries to ASEAN Member States reached more than $32.65 billion last year compared to $26.12 billion in 1997

The Philippines also welcomed the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Leaders’ Statement on Strengthening the Connectivity of Regional Supply Chains, highlighting its benefits such as reducing transportation costs, responding faster to changes in demand, enhancing resilience to global disruptions, facilitating trade, enhancing collaboration and innovation, and encouraging regulatory alignment.