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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Philippines, New Zealand to elevate ties in 2026

Philippines, New Zealand to elevate ties in 2026

Published Apr 18, 2024 01:44 pm

The Philippines and New Zealand have agreed to level up their ties into a comprehensive one by 2026 as both nations' leaders acknowledged the strong existing bilateral partnership between the two sides.

President Marcos on Thursday, April 18, sat down with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who is on an official visit to Manila, where they discussed a wide range of areas, including defense, economy, people-to-people and climate.

"The leaders acknowledged their mutual desire to strengthen the relationship between the Philippines and New Zealand and to lift the relationship in ways that deliver real benefits and advance our shared security and economic interests," their joint vision statement read.

"To reflect this mutual desire, and to mark the anniversary of 60 years of bilateral relations, leaders agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership by 2026," it added.

Marcos and Luxon agreed to expedite the conclusion of a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) SNF committed to sign the Mutual Logistics Supporting Agreement (MLSA) by 2024.

They also saw the need to cooperate on maritime law enforcement, including addressing common threats, such as piracy; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; maritime terrorism; contraband smuggling; wildlife trafficking, and irregular human migration.

They also pushed for further cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

On economy, Marcos and Luxon noted the stronger economic linkages between the Philippines and New Zealand, particularly when the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) was upgraded and during the successful implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

They also stressed the importance of collaborating with partners across the Indo-Pacific region within the 14-country Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for Prosperity and starting the implementation of the Supply Chain Agreement in February 2024.

The leaders agreed to remove "unnecessary barriers to trade," work together to ensure that exporters can fully utilize the comprehensive suite of free trade agreements and provide an enabling environment for business and investments.

Marcos and Luxon also welcomed the growth of people-to-people connections between New Zealand and the Philippines, agreeing to strengthen ties regarding the welfare of migrant workers, particularly Filipino nurses.

They then recognized the need to align climate actions to support the achievement of the goal of holding global average temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

They directed their respective officials to discuss the development of a potential Memorandum of Arrangement, which shall relate to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

"The two leaders agreed to strive to expand the cooperation in the fields of environment and natural resources management, recognizing mutual responsibility, and the importance of protecting and improving the environment," their statement read.

Related Tags

Bongbong Marcos New Zealand Christopher Luxon
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