Philippines, Lithuania to roll out political consultations
The Philippines and Lithuania are set to hold their first ever political consultation as top diplomats of both countries met Wednesday, April 24, in Manila to further advance bilateral ties.
Bilateral political consultations are usually convened by the department or the ministry of foreign affairs of a country.
"It is a mechanism to monitor bilateral relations and explore new areas of cooperation. It covers discussions on the different areas of cooperation, [such as] political, economic, consular," Ma. Teresita Daza, DFA spokesperson, told Manila Bulletin.
The development in the two countries' relations came as Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis made a historic visit to the Philippines. He was the first Lithuanian top diplomat to make a trip to the country.
Landsbergis sat down with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo, and they agreed to deepen ties in various areas, such as trade and investments, clean energy, science and technology and people-to-people ties.
"We have identified and agreed on the initial steps that we can take to advance concrete cooperation in these areas," Manalo said in his remark.
Manalo and Landsbergis noted the expanding relations between the two countries as affirmed by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Consultations between the two ministries on September 18 2023.
"We are set to conduct the first political consultations between the Philippines and Lithuania, to be hosted by the Philippines in June this year, to move forward our discussions today towards the goal of reaching the full potential of our bilateral relationship," Manalo said.