Duterte, Abe to tackle economic, security ties

MANILA, Philippines — Enhancing security and economic cooperation as well as Asia’s role in regional development are expected to highlight President Duterte’s bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the Philippine leader’s visit to Japan next week.

At a briefing in Malacañang, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo Montealegre said the bilateral meeting would be an opportunity for both leaders to take stock of the progress of strengthened strategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan.

“Well, the President will likely assert Asia’s role in charting its own future. Even as we affirmed the larger international frameworks and mechanisms that have given birth through the Asian century we now enjoy,” he said.

“He will likely also highlight how addressing domestic imperatives provides the conditions by which we will collectively shape Asia’s future,” Montealegre said.

Also likely to be discussed are the entry of Filipino skilled workers to Japan, Japanese assistance for the Bangsamoro region, as well as regional security issues such as the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea dispute, the DFA said.

It will be the seventh meeting between Duterte and Abe since November 2018, when they met on the sidelines of the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore.

The President is attending the Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia to be held in Tokyo upon the invitation of Nikkei Inc.

The conference will mark the President’s third visit to Japan since assuming office. His previous official visits were in October 2016 and October 2017.

The conference serves as a platform for government and business leaders to share their respective assessment of Asia’s prospects and what direction it should follow to achieve development.

“With its solid track record of featuring Asian leaders and speakers, the conference has earned a reputation of being one of Asia’s top foreign policy in economic fora,” Montealegre said.

This year’s 25th conference will be held on May 30 and 31 at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo with the theme “Seeking a New Global Order – Overcoming the Chaos.”

Other Asian leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the conference are Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia, Prime Minister Sheik Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

The deputy prime ministers of Vietnam and Singapore will also be in attendance along with ministers from Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.