Seoul, 28 May 2004 – The Philippines and the Republic of Korea will strengthen their cooperation in various areas of bilateral concern and have agreed also to extend their partnership to the multilateral arena.

This was the result of the bilateral meeting held today by Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon at the sidelines of the 2004 Global Summit of Women in Seoul.

Secretary Albert expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the discussions, which she said, is reflective of the close partnership between the two countries, which have made significant strides in enhancing their cooperation after fifty-five years of diplomatic ties.

“Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and I have identified the specific areas where our two countries can further enhance our bilateral relationship. Tourism is one such area. The Republic of Korea is among the top sources of tourists to the Philippines with around 304,000 ROK tourists visiting the country last year,” said the Secretary.

“We expect this figure to rise significantly in 2004 in view of our plan to pursue cooperative endeavors in tourism. This includes the sending of Korean instructors to teach the Korean language to tourist front liners, the conduct of cross cultural learning program for Korean executives based in the Philippines, and the undertaking of joint ventures to develop tourist sites in the country,” she added.

The Secretary also expressed the hope that trade and investment relations with the ROK will continue to expand in the coming years.

“The Republic of Korea currently ranks as our 7th biggest trading partner, with total trade amounting to US$3.7 billion. It is also our 9th largest market for Philippine exports and the 4th largest source of imports as well as being one of the top investing countries to the Philippines,” Secretary Albert said.

“I am confident that this trend will continue and that the Philippines will remain as a reliable trade and investment partner of Korea,” said the Secretary.

The two foreign ministers, both career diplomats, also discussed various regional and international issues, including the latest developments in the Korean peninsula and the Six-Party Talks as well as Korea’s hosting of APEC in 2005, and its proposal for an E-Health initiative.

“The Republic of Korea is one of the most active and dedicated dialogue partners of ASEAN. I expressed the hope that Korea would participate in the development of Mindanao and the  Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) in the interest of regional integration and prosperity,” said the Secretary. She cited the interest of China and Japan in pursuing in the Asean.

The meeting between Secretary Albert with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon in Seoul is the third held by two foreign ministers this year. They first met in January during the 2nd Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) hosted by the Philippines, where they signed the
agreement on the South Manila Commuter Railway System. They also met during the Asia Europe Foreign Ministers (ASEM) Meeting held in Dublin, Ireland in April. Their bilateral meetings are clear indications of active Philippine-Korea relations. END.