PHL, South Korea ink 5 agreements in Busan

Presidents Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Moon Jae-In of the Republic of Korea on Monday inked five agreements on various matters during a bilateral meeting in Busan, South Korea.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the agreements signed covered tourism, education, fisheries, agriculture, and social security concerns.

According to a report by Cedric Castillo on 24 Oras, Duterte also invited Moon to come to the Philippines for a state visit in 2020.

During the bilateral meeting, the Philippine President thanked South Korea for the help it extended to the Filipinos who were affected by the powerful earthquakes in Mindanao.

Duterte also referred to South Korea and the Philippines as “blood brothers” for their ties during the Korean War.

“I assure you that the Philippines will continue to find common cause and purpose with the Republic of Korea towards enhancing our bilateral engagement and promoting peace and stability in your region,” he said.

Duterte also noted that South Korea was the Philippines’ fourth-largest trading partner and 13th biggest source of foreign direct investments.

For his part, Moon expressed his appreciation for the Filipinos’ love for Korean culture and lauded the Duterte government for the growth of the Philippine economy.

“The Philippines is the future of ASEAN as it continues to achieve an impressive growth rate six percent each year,” Moon said.

Prior to the bilateral meeting, Duterte also met with businessmen from South Korea and the Philippines.

The President told the Korean business leaders of the significant headway his administration had made in terms of sound macroeconomic policies and infrastructure build-up and connectivity.

Duterte also highlighted the enactment of the Ease of Doing Business Law, the implementation of the Inclusive Industrial Strategy, and the progress made under the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, some projects of which were funded by South Korea.

Duterte was in South Korea for the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Commemorative Summit.

The welcome dinner for the commemorative summit was held Monday night. — Julia Mari Ornedo/DVM, GMA News