PBBM leaves for Melbourne to attend ASEAN-Australia Special Summit

ASEAN-AUSTRALIA SUMMIT. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. delivers his departure statement at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday (March 3, 2024) before leaving for Melbourne, Australia. He will attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit upon the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. (PCO Photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will reiterate the country’s position on regional and international issues during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

President Marcos was invited by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the Special Summit in Melbourne, commemorating the 50 years of ASEAN-Australia Relations.

He thanked the Australian government for its support for the rule of law.

“As the first ASEAN Leaders’ level engagement for the year, the Summit presents an opportunity to reiterate the Philippines’ national positions on regional and international issues and set the tone for ASEAN’s Dialogue Partner Summits later in the year,” Marcos said in his departure speech at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday.

“The Summit will be an opportunity for the Philippines to thank Australia, ASEAN’s oldest Dialogue Partner, for its unwavering support for the rule of law, for the 1982 UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award, through timely statements of support as well as through capacity-building and academic initiatives to mainstream appreciation of international law,” he added.

Marcos said there will be two main engagements in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, including the Leaders’ Plenary and the “Leaders’ Retreat.

He said the Philippines will take stock of ASEAN-Australia cooperation and cooperation and propose ways to further bolster relations during the Leaders’ Plenary.

The country will exchange candid views on key issues affecting the region, and the world during the Leaders’ Retreat.

The President said he will also hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers Samdech Hun Manet of Cambodia and Christopher Mark Luxon of New Zealand.

He will likewise meet with the Filipino community in Melbourne and promote investments through the Philippine Business Forum led by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The President is similarly looking forward to the launching of the expansion of the Victoria International Container Terminal, Australia’s first fully automated container terminal.

He will deliver a keynote speech at the Lowy Institute where he will highlight the Philippines’ role as an active participant in world affairs and a contributor to the rules-based regional security architecture.

The President assured that the government will continue to ensure that the Philippines’ constructive engagements with ASEAN and stakeholders will best serve the country’s national interest, promote region’s peace, stability, security and prosperity for the well-being of the Filipino people and the region.

The Philippines and Australia established formal diplomatic relations on July 4, 1946.

Australia is home to around 408,000 Filipinos and Australians of Filipino descent.

Last year, overseas Filipino workers’ remittances from Australia reached USD301.2 million.

The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.