New Czech envoy offers help in agri, defense needs
President Marcos has secured a commitment from the Czech government for assistance to Philippine agriculture and defense and security needs, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
New Czech Ambassador Karel Hejč, who presented his credentials to Mr. Marcos on Tuesday, said visits to the Philippines by high-ranking Czech government officials and business delegation are being organized for for possible partnerships on defense, agriculture and other areas.
“The opportunities are here. We just need to grab them and I’m pleased to mention that just in the next year, we will start here with the visit of the foreign committee of our parliament on so much important defense and security issues of the regional geopolitics,” the Presidential Communications Office, in a statement, quoted Hejč telling Mr. Marcos.
“But later on in the year, we plan on bringing our minister of agriculture to Manila and to the Philippines [along with] business delegations. So, carefully selected companies that are interested in doing business with the Philippines, with the Filipino companies, and investing in Philippines.”
The President told the Czech envoy that his administration is prioritizing agriculture along with other areas to transform the Philippine economy.
Geopolitical situations
Defense and security are also major thrusts for the administration, Mr. Marcos added, considering the geopolitical situations that the country is facing.
“Your country has already been of assistance to us in proposing some vessels that we could use for the securing of our maritime waters, our maritime territory. And as you must know that this is becoming a very thorny problem that we are facing,” the President said.
“Not only the Philippines, but I think the entire region, even extending up to the Indo-Pacific. So, there’s much that we need to attend to, but I think that if we are able to have close partners and alliances, that we’ll always be a very important part of our foreign policy,” he added.
Hejč said that with Czechia’s geographic position in Europe and its role in past regional conflicts, it was able to enhance and develop its defense and security industry, making it one of the producers of the finest war instruments, arms and ammunition in the world.
