IMPROVING BILATERAL TIES. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. meets with Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the Prime Minister’s office in Prague, Czech Republic on Thursday (March 14, 2024). During their bilateral meeting, Marcos and Fiala agreed to explore more areas of cooperation between the two countries. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)
MANILA – The Philippines and Czech Republic have agreed to deepen their cooperation in various areas such as agriculture and trade and investment, Malacañang said Friday.
The commitment was made during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s meeting with Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Prague, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement.
During his meeting with Fiala at the Prime Minister’s office, Marcos said he looks forward to strengthening the bilateral ties between the two nations by pursuing and exploring priority sectors like agriculture, trade and investment, defense and security, labor space, and technology.
“We continue to pursue and explore the areas that we spoke about before. We, of course, talked about the defense and security and in that vein, we have just, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as you know, is in the process of modernization of our capabilities and capacities,” Marcos told Fiala, as quoted by the PCO.
“We continue to explore also in terms of agriculture, cybersecurity, which is something that we spoke about very briefly, but now we put a little bit more, put a bit more meat on the bones of that initial discussion that we have had,” Marcos added.
President Marcos also encouraged Czech companies to participate in the Philippines’ infrastructure development, especially the constructions of the country’s gateways, to improve its global competitiveness.
Fiala, on the other hand, expressed the Czech Republic’s readiness to support the Philippines in several fields such as agriculture, energy technology, transportation, civil aviation and aeronautics, and space technology.
He also assured Marcos of the Central European nation’s strong commitment for the economic development of the Philippines which serves as its “key partner in the Indo-Pacific region."
“We are interested in (a) stronger economic and trade nation with your country. We can assist this diversification of your country’s economic model,” Fiala said.
“And I saw in Manila many possibilities for our future cooperation. We discussed cooperation, agriculture, defense, aviation, and energy,” he added, as he extended his gratitude for Marcos’ efforts to reciprocate his state visit in April last year.
Fiala visited Manila from April 16 to 18, 2023 and met with Marcos where they launched the book Kaibigan-Přátelé: Czech-Philippine Cultural and Diplomatic Dialogue at Malacañan Palace.
PH tourist spots
Marcos, during his bilateral meeting with Fiala, also extended his invitation for Czech nationals to visit the Philippines to experience the country’s tourist destinations and Filipino hospitality.
This, as he informed Fiala of the ongoing modernization efforts to transform the Philippines’ regional airports into international airports to increase the accessibility to domestic tourist destinations.
“Hopefully, we will see more of your citizens coming to the Philippines. And I can see that this is an area that will continue to increase for us. It’s very happy to welcome friends, come, visit the Philippines,” Marcos said.
“We take pride in the Filipino hospitality, and we take pride in our beautiful country, as in, of course, you do. But that’s why I think that this is a third time, an area of third time development,” he added.
Marcos said it is very timely for the two nations to discuss people-to-people exchanges, as the Philippines considers its tourism sector as an important part in reviving the economy after the pandemic and sees Czech Republic as a significant tourist destination for the Filipinos.
Czech leaders
Apart from Fiala, Marcos also met with Czech President Petr Pavel, Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, and Czech Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová to discuss the two countries’ bilateral relations.
Marcos was accompanied by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in his meetings with the four officials.
Before flying back to Manila on early Saturday morning (Manila time), Marcos would deliver a speech at the Philippine-Czech Republic Business Forum in Prague.
Marcos is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with a local firm and meet with the Filipino community in Prague.
The diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Czech Republic were officially established on Oct. 5, 1973. (PNA)
