Trump praises PHL for closing gender gap ahead of visit

United States President Donald Trump on Friday praised the Philippines' consistency in being the top Asia-Pacific country in terms of gender equality and for its "strong and devout families" during his remarks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.

"The Philippines has emerged as a proud nation of strong and devout families," Trump said. "For 11 consecutive years, the World Economic Forum has ranked the Philippines first among Asian countries in closing the gender gap and embracing women leaders in business and in politics."

Other Asian countries received their share of praise from the US president, who will be in the Philippines next to attend the 31st ASEAN Leaders Summit and Related Meetings.

Trump praised APEC-CEO host country Vietnam, which he described as the US' friend after the Vietnam War, for having "one of the fastest-growing economies on Earth" and some of "the best students in the world," in addition to having "engineering marvels."

"This city was once home to an American military base, in a country where many Americans and Vietnamese lost their lives in a very bloody war," he said. "Today, we are no longer enemies; we are friends.  And this port city is bustling with ships from around the world."

Indonesia was recognized for lifting itself out of poverty "to become one of the fastest-growing nations of the G20" and "the third-largest democracy on Earth," and Malaysia for being "ranked as one of the best places in the world to do business."

Trump also exalted former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew for his "vision of honest governance and the rule of law," which supposedly allowed Singaporeans to rank among "the highest earners in the world."

"In Singapore, citizens born to parents who survived on $500 dollars a day [year] are now among the highest earners in the world -- a transformation made possible by the vision of Lee Kwan Yew’s vision of honest governance and the rule of law," he said.

Of South Korea, Trump remarked: "Today, South Koreans enjoy higher incomes than the citizens of many European Union countries.  It was great spending time with President Moon (Jae-In)."

The US President also heaped praises on China and Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he met on Thursday to discuss trade and North Korea's nuclear weapons.

"Everyone knows of China’s impressive achievements over the past several decades.  During this period -- and it was a period of great market reforms -- large parts of China experienced rapid economic growth, jobs boomed, and more than 800 million citizens rose out of poverty," Trump said.

"I just left China this morning and had a really productive meeting and a wonderful time with our gracious host, President Xi," he added. —Rie Takumi/KBK/BAP, GMA News