President Rodrigo Duterte and United States President Donald Trump are set to meet each other for the first time during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Duterte and Trump are expected to be present at the APEC Leaders’ Meeting from November 8 to 11, along with 20 other state leaders.
The Philippine President is scheduled to fly to Vietnam on Wednesday for the international gathering which started on November 6.
At a palace briefing in Malacañang on Monday, Department of Foreign Affairs assistant secretary Leo Herrera-Lim said both Duterte and Trump would first meet during the welcome dinner for APEC leaders on November 8.
Lim said that there are several opportunities for the two leaders to meet—at the Welcome Dinner which will be held on November 8, at a gala dinner, and at the meetings itself.
The DFA official said it is possible for Duterte and Trump to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC.
“There’s several opportunities for exchanges. Pretty much a convergence between the two presidents would be one, national security both at the country level and at the regional level and then number two, the desire to grow the different engines of global economy,” Lim told reporters.
Lim added that final schedules for Duterte’s bilateral meetings at the sideline of the APEC Summit would be finalized after the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Da Nang on the 8th of November.
Aside from Trump, the Foreign Affairs assistant secretary said Duterte may also have bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin who will not be present at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Philippines.
Lim said that the Philippines’ key priorities in the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting would be full participation of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the global economy, sustainable and inclusive growth, connectivity and human resources development.
“And then, in terms of the key messages, I think, during the past year the Duterte administration has made inclusive growth and pro-poor agenda, so the hallmarks of its development plan; and this ties into bringing MSMEs into the global value chain,” the DFA official stressed.
After their attendance to the APEC Summit, Duterte and Trump will meet again as the U.S. President is scheduled to fly to Manila on November 12 to 14 for the ASEAN Summit.