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DEPARTMENT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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DEPARTMENT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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SFA-AGR-083-08 |
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PHILIPPINES AND VIETNAM ENHANCE BILATERAL RELATIONS AT THE 5TH MEETING OF THE JOINT COMMISSION FOR BILATERAL COOPERATION |
 22 February 2008—The 5th Meeting of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) was held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila on 21-22 February 2008, to review and further strengthen the implementation of the Philippines-Vietnam Plan of Action 2008-2010.
During the meeting, the two countries discussed their growing defense and military cooperation. They looked forward to the visit to Vietnam by Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. within this year.
The Philippines and Vietnam committed to undertake measures to attain their target total trade of US$2 billion by 2010. With agriculture being a major sector of both countries' economies, they agreed to enhance cooperation in agriculture and convene in 2008 the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Working Group on Agriculture. They will exchange experts in a number of areas in 2008 through the Bilateral Technical Exchange Program in Agriculture.
Recognizing the Philippines' strength in human resource development and the increasing number of Vietnamese students in the country, the two countries undertook to work together towards the conclusion of an agreement on academic cooperation.
The Philippines and Vietnam reaffirmed the importance of maritime cooperation and reiterated their commitment to the principles of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. They also underscored the achievements of the Joint Oceanographic Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea (JOMSRE-SCS) Phase I, and looked forward to the conference of JOMSRE-SCS Phase I to be held in Ha Long City, Vietnam. The two sides reiterated the importance of the tripartite (with China) Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) in transforming the South China Sea into a zone of cooperation in the region.
The Meeting also agreed to intensify bilateral collaboration in other areas, such as fisheries, health, tourism, forestry, energy, social welfare and development, culture, and science and technology.
H.E. Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, led the Vietnamese Delegation to the Meeting, while H.E. Dr. Alberto G. Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, led the Philippine Delegation.
The Ministerial Meeting was preceded by a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) headed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique A. Manalo for the Philippine side and Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung for the Vietnamese side.
Vietnam will host the next SOM in 2009 and the Ministerial Meeting in 2010. END
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