Your Excellency Dinh Tich, Ambassador of Vietnam to the Philippines and Dean of the ASEAN Ambassadors;
Excellencies;
My colleagues in the Department and in Government;
Distinguished guests;
Mr. Carlos Chan, President of Liwayway Marketing Corporation;
Mr. Antonio Enriquez, Vice-President of San Miguel Corporation;

We are here to honor His Excellency Dinh Tich as he concludes his tour of duty in the Philippines and prepares to return to Vietnam for a new assignment even against our fervent desires and wishes.

Looking back at the three and a half years of His Excellency’s tour of duty in the Philippines, we see deep and profound reasons for celebrating:  the flourishing bilateral relations, strengthened trade, and deepened friendship between our countries and our peoples.  And these have happened during the tenure of the Ambassador here in the Philippines.

The dynamism that characterized our bilateral relations during His Excellency’s Ambassadorship is best seen in the area of trade.  When His Excellency began his tour of duty in November 2002, our total annual two-way trade stood at US$385 million. Now, it has exceeded US$1 billion, and of course our target is eventually for it to reach, perhaps in two or three years, US$2 billion.

Two new bilateral consultative mechanisms were inaugurated during His Excellency’s time in Manila: the Joint Trade Committee in September 2003 and the Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns (JPWG-MOC) in February 2004. At the 3rd Meeting of the JPWG-MOC in February 2003, the Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition or JOMSRE, the pillar of our bilateral engagement in the South China Sea, was institutionalized.

The Philippines and Vietnam – working together on goodwill, confidence and respect – are showing the region how to transform the South China Sea into a zone of peace and development for the mutual benefit of our peoples.   Our efforts in this area will be an enduring legacy of peace and cooperation that will be remembered by generations.  We have a tripartite partnership on our petrochemicals with Vietnam and China.

Our Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation also met twice during His Excellency’s tour of duty, most recently in Hanoi last November.

The meeting was fruitful and productive and the hospitality accorded to me and my delegation was unequalled.

Of course, before that, we are appreciative of the reception that the Vietnamese Government gave to our President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and we are appreciative of the fine arrangements accorded to President Arroyo’s delegation during the ASEM meeting in Hanoi.  Of course, we are looking forward to the APEC meeting in November this year.

As Your Excellency prepares to take on other responsibilities and challenges in your new assignment, please take with you the friendship and goodwill of the Filipino people.

Your Excellency is a true friend of the Filipino people and you will be sorely missed by those who have seen your dedication and commitment to strengthening the ties between our nations.

As they say in Filipino, you are most simpático, and that is why you have won the hearts of our countrymen and our officials.

Your Excellency leaves a legacy of flourishing and strengthened friendship, which we are confident, will continue to be strengthened by your successor.

On this note, may I invite everyone – friends, ladies and gentlemen – to join me in a toast:

To the continued good health and success of His Excellency Dinh Tich; and

To the enduring friendship between our countries and peoples, the Vietnamese and the Filipinos.

Mabuhay!