The Philippines, the United States, and Japan have started discussing ways to strengthen economic resilience in the face of economic coercion.
Senior government officials from the three countries on Friday, Oct. 25, held an informal trilateral discussion in Manila to strengthen close coordination among the three countries based on "the Joint Vision Statement from the Leaders of Japan, the Philippines, and the United States" issued at the first Japan-US-Philippines Summit in April.
Early this year, President Marcos, US President Joe Biden, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida committed to promote enduring, inclusive economic growth and resilience in their respective countries and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
They said they would pursue economic projects that would advance their shared objectives of promoting broad-based and sustainable economic growth, and investing in resilient, reliable, and diversified supply chains.
In the recent meeting between the three nations, the officials shared their concern over and strong opposition to economic coercion and a commitment to building economic resilience.
They also affirmed that the three countries intend to cooperate to raise awareness of this issue among the international community and enhance their resilience to and response capabilities to potential economic coercion.
The discussion was chaired by Ms. Ma. Corazon Halili—Dichosa, Executive Director for Industry Development Services at the Board of Investments of the Republic of the Philippines.
The US delegation was led by Jonathan Fritz, chief of staff to Jose W. Fernandez, the undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the US Department of State; and the Japanese delegation was led by Mochizuki Chihiro, director for Economic Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.