Closing Statement of Hon. Delia Domingo-Albert,
Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Your Royal Highness, Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam,

Distinguished members of the Your Royal Highness’ delegation,

Colleagues in government,
 

As we conclude our inaugural and historic, JCBC meeting, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Your Royal Highness and the members of your delegation for your full support and cooperation in making our meeting a very successful and productive one.

Our fruitful discussions these past few days focused on concrete follow-up activities to strengthen our cooperation in several priority areas. Your Royal Highness will agree with me that the important task ahead of us is to ensure that our decisions and agreements will be implemented accordingly.

We look forward to working even more closely with Brunei in pursuing this goal. I therefore encourage our officials to sustain the momentum generated during our Meeting today. Specifically, I wish to reiterate our desire to conclude our pending agreements and MOUs and to establish the institutional frameworks for our concluded agreements.  As I mentioned earlier, it would be timely to make substantial gains on these matters this year, to highlight the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations.
 

Your Royal Highness,

Let me take this opportunity to thank Your Royal Highness and the Government and People of Brunei Darussalam for providing gainful opportunities to more than fifteen thousand Filipino workers and for recognizing their valuable contributions to Brunei’s national development. Indeed, Brunei has been a caring neighbor and a steadfast partner not only in its efforts to address global and regional challenges, but also in our national development programs. The historical bonds and kinship ties established centuries ago by our forebears remain strong and are a testimony to our two countries’ close links. The Philippines is appreciative of Brunei’s solidarity and support for the reinvigoration of our relations in various fields and at all levels. I am confident that our two Governments and peoples will be able to sustain this long-standing partnership for another century and beyond.

May I convey my best wishes for Your Royal Highness’ continued good health and for the continued peace and prosperity of Brunei Darussalam. I also hope and pray that Your Royal Highness and your delegation will have a safe and pleasant journey back to Brunei.
 

MARAMING SALAMAT PO!  BERJUMPA LAGI!