Marcos, Anwar agree to boost PH-Malaysia ties

FILE PHOTO: President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim | PHOTOS: Office of the President of the Philippines / Mohd Rasfan via REUTERS

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday agreed to enhance the relations between Manila and Kuala Lumpur.

They said they both made the agreement during a “cordial and productive” bilateral meeting at the Malacañan Palace.

Marcos said he and Anwar agreed to continue the Philippine-Malaysian cooperation on political and security matters as they recognized the importance of maintaining peace and security in the region.

“We agreed to continue our cooperation on political and security matters, rekindling the joint commission meetings and joint initiatives to combat transnational crime and terrorism.”

READ: Marcos, Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim meet in Malacañang

For his part, Prime Minister Anwar agreed that collaboration on defense and security still needs to be improved although it’s been “strong and growing.”

“Our defense and security ties are also strong and growing. We share common borders. Therefore, the collaboration needs to be further enhanced,” he said in his delivered statement.

Marcos said he and Anwar also agreed to strengthen trade and investment as both their nations navigate a post-pandemic world.

With the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and geopolitical upheavals challenging the economies of the Philippines and Malaysia and the prospects of a global recovery, the two leaders agreed to ” reinvigorate trade and investment exchanges, with a special focus on the halal industry, agriculture and food security, and the digital economy.”

Anwar further said he and Marcos agreed that the Philippines and Malaysia should intensify efforts to increase the volume of trade and investments.

Marcos also mentioned that the two countries’ shared historic roots are deep, and that the cultures of the Philippines and Malaysia enjoy natural affinity.

“As such, we spoke of further deepening our people-to-people ties through continued cultural exchanges and tourism,” Marcos said, adding that he acknowledge the role of the Filipino diaspora in Malaysia and their contribution to both our economies.

Marcos said the Philippines and Malaysia, as founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), have Asean Centrality embedded in their regional outlook.

“We have thus resolved to support development and peace-building initiatives within this group, including the importance of achieving a resolution to the situation in Myanmar,” he said.

Anwar then expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, saying his country is adversely affected due to the huge number of refugees now reaching 200,000.

The Malaysian Prime Minister also said he and Marcos discussed the South China Sea issue and that they should “try and engage and take the position at the multilateral level in the Asean.”

“[This is] so that we have a comprehensive approach and achieve an amicable resolution to this outstanding problem,” Anwar said.

Anwar is the first head of government to have visited the Philippines under the administration of Marcos Jr.

READ: Marcos, Malaysia’s Ibrahim set to discuss cooperation, people-to-people ties