Islamabad, 2 June 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert met today with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues concerning the two countries.

Both the President and Secretary Albert agreed on the need to reinvigorate Philippine-Pakistani ties and to expand their cooperation in various areas of mutual concern.

“Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1949, political relations between our two countries, while remaining warm and cordial, have not moved forward in recent years. To strengthen our ties of friendship, I propose that our bilateral cooperation should be expanded to cover specific areas where we can complement each other,” the Secretary said.

Secretary Albert identified these areas to include trade, counter-terrorism and defense-related matters. President Musharraf welcomed her suggestion and agreed that Pakistan and the Philippines should examine ways to address the current low volume of trade. He also extended Pakistan’s offer to provide more training and visit exchanges as part of its defense cooperation activities with the Philippines.

The Secretary congratulated President Musharraf for his timely initiative in pursuing his strategy of “enlightened moderation” and praised Pakistan for its significant role in the fight against international terrorism.
 
“The Philippines has followed with great interest the efforts of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, which have contributed to ensure political stability and economic development of South Asia. We share the view with Pakistan that terrorism could not be eliminated by force of arms alone but by identifying, understanding and addressing the root causes of terrorism,” the Secretary said.
 
On multilateral issues, Secretary Albert welcomed Pakistan’s accession to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) and said that the Philippines looks forward to Pakistan’s membership and participation at the 11th ASEAN Regional Forum in July this year.

She also reiterated the Philippines’ desire to obtain observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an issue which, President Musharraf said, “Pakistan will give its highest consideration.”

“We recognize the important role and contribution that the OIC could make not only to regional but also to global peace and development,” said the Secretary.

“The Philippines, as a sovereign state, wishes to represent the interests of all Muslim Filipinos living in all parts of the country in such an important organization. Our participation would strengthen existing relations between the Philippines and individual OIC member states and it could lead to more effective engagement of OIC countries in the development of Southern Philippines,” she added.

During the meeting, Secretary Albert lauded President Musharraf’s initiative in improving the status of Pakistani women, whom she said could contribute significantly to the socio-economic progress of the country. The President replied that women’s rights should be given more protection and agreed that their participation in economic activities in Pakistan should be given greater impetus by the government.  President Musharraf also gave instructions for the president of the first women’s bank of Pakistan, based in Karachi, to go to Islamabad to give a presentation on her bank to the Secretary.

Before concluding her call on President Musharraf, the Secretary reiterated the invitation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for him to visit the Philippines. The Pakistani President said that he looks forward to the visit and hopes that President Arroyo could make a reciprocal visit to Pakistan. He also requested Secretary Albert to convey his highest respect to President Arroyo, whose father, the  late President Diosdado Macapagal, was the first President of  the Philippines to visit the country. END.