Duterte to complete Asean swing with trips to Myanmar, Thailand
Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose talks about the details of President Rodrigo Duterte’s upcoming visits to Myanmar and Thailand. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.net
President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to go on official visits to Myanmar and Thailand next week to complete his swing through the nine other member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“President Rodrigo Duterte will undertake [an official] visit to Myanmar on March 19 and March 20, to be followed by an official visit to the Kingdom of Thailand on March 20 to 22,” foreign affairs spokesperson Charles Jose said in a Palace briefing.
Jose said “these visits are part of the President’s introductory visits to countries in Southeast Asia.”
He said Duterte’s state visit to Myanmar was upon the invitation of the President of Myanmar, U Htin Kyaw.
Duterte, he said, is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Htin Kyaw who will host a state banquet in honor of Duterte.
During his visit, the President will also meet other high-level government officials, including State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Jose said Duterte would also meet the Filipino community in Myanmar in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw.
He said the Chief Executive would inform the Filipino community “about his administration’s priority programs and developments in the Philippines.”
Jose said that in Duterte’s Thailand trip, he and Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha would hold bilateral meeting “where they are expected to discuss issues of mutual concern, including political, economic, agriculture, energy, education, and defense cooperation.”
“President Duterte is expected to brief Thai officials on the priorities and programs of the Philippines for its Asean Chairmanship this year,” he said.
The President is also “scheduled to meet the more than 16,000 Filipinos living and working in Thailand,” he said.
“The visits to Myanmar and Thailand demonstrate our leaders’ resolve to forge stronger relations with our neighbors and cooperate closely with them in various areas of endeavor,” Jose said. IDL/rga
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