The Philippines and Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pilot an English-training program that will allow Mongolian civil servants and rural officials to pursue foreign language training in the Philippines.

This was announced in a joint press conference on Monday, May 19, by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo and Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh in Pasay City.

“I have also responded positively to Mongolia’s interest in learning from the Philippines’ experience in the area of regional development and in pursuing English language training for Mongolian civil servants and rural officials in the Philippines,” Manalo told the media after his bilateral meeting with the Mongolian official.

“In this regard, I have just exchanged with Minister Battsetseg diplomatic notes pertaining to a pilot program for Mongolians to study English in the Philippines, which will be organized by the Technical Cooperation Council of the Philippines,” he added.

Battsetseg, for her part, welcomed the signing of the MOU and recognized the Philippines’ “global leadership in English-language education.”

“This initiative draws upon the Philippines' international technology expertise and is aimed at enhancing the skills of Mongolian youth and civil servants, especially in global areas, contributing to our national objective of inclusive regional development,” she said.

The Mongolian foreign minister is in Manila for a two-day visit from May 19 to 20 that included courtesy calls to President Marcos and Senate President Francis Escudero.

This marked the first time a Mongolian foreign minister visited the Philippines since 1984. It also signaled a reciprocation of Manalo’s own visit to Mongolia in August last year.

Battsetseg, likewise, noted the importance of cooperation on “critical issues of food and labor security, areas of increasing global concern.”

“In this context, we welcomed the progress toward concluding a Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation, which aligns with Mongolia's National Food Supply and Security Campaign,” she said.

The official also welcomed the Philippines’ “positive response” to Mongolia’s proposed labor agreement that aims to uphold the rights and welfare of Filipino workers there.

“Through the Foreign Minister, I thanked the Mongolian Government for helping ensure that the rights and welfare of around five hundred Filipinos living in Mongolia are protected. I discussed with her our desire to forge cooperative frameworks that will better protect Filipinos in Mongolia,” Manalo said.

Battsetseg stated that there is also “mutual commitment” to strengthen economic and trade ties, and collaborate both countries’ efforts to expand the trade volume.

To further work on the economic cooperation between the two countries, the bilateral meeting was joined by the Department of Economy, Economic Planning and Development (formerly NEDA), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Manalo said this “demonstrates how much potential there is to develop in our bilateral relations.”

The DFA chief also expressed his gratitude to Mongolia for participating in the recently concluded High-Level Conference on Middle-Income Countries last week, which issued the Makati Declaration on Middle-Income Countries.

“As middle-income countries, we share an interest in pursuing cooperation to sustain our promising development trajectories,” he added.

“Beyond our economic ties, the Philippines and Mongolia are Asian democracies bound by shared values of freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. In this context, we reaffirmed our shared interest in the evolving Indo-Pacific landscape and in defending the rules-based international order,” Manalo said.

He shared that both he and Battsetseg emphasized the importance of adhering to the United Nations Charter and the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, which reiterated the obligation of all states to settle their international disputes by peaceful means.

The officials also reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an international treaty that sets the legal framework for all of the world’s oceans and seas, and “to our shared vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.”

But while the Philippines pursues an independent foreign policy, Manalo took note of Mongolia’s interest in a “Third Neighbor Policy” and the importance it puts on its relations with the Philippines.

For her part, Battsetseg expressed Mongolia’s interest in becoming a central dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which the Philippines is a founding member of.

“We are deeply grateful for the Philippines' full support for this aspiration, which affirms our shared commitment to regional peace, dialogue, and cooperation,” she said.

With the bilateral meeting “held in a spirit of genuine friendship and mutual respect,” Battsetseg expressed Mongolia’s commitment to boosting its relations with the Philippines, as well as “to deliver meaningful, lasting outcomes for our peoples and to contribute to a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future for the region and the world.“

Manalo, on the other hand, said he is confident in the two countries’ abilities “to sustain the momentum we have built” since their first meeting in 2018 as vice ministers and again in the subsequent three meetings they had as foreign ministers.

“I look forward to the continuation of a truly meaningful growth in our bilateral relations with Mongolia,” he added.

“Both sides emphasized the importance of collective action to address climate change, focusing on building resilience and prioritizing disaster risk reduction,” their joint statement said.

The Philippines expressed its “full support” for Mongolia’s hosting of the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which will be held in Ulaanbaatar in 2026.

In the joint press conference, Battsetseg expressed her country’s “sincere gratitude” to the Philippines for supporting Mongolia's bid to host the 70th Conference of the Parties of the 17th UN Convention on Economic and Security Relations in Colombo in 2026.

“We believe this conference will be supported by a critical issue of climate degradation and depopulation, and the growing impacts of climate change against our region and beyond,” she added.