Marcos to fly to Japan for ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. will fly to Tokyo, Japan to participate in the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit for the 50th year of the ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation.

According to Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu, the President will leave Manila on December 15, Friday.

''This is very important because Japan is one of the first dialogue partners of ASEAN and it's one of the most dynamic. Its participation in ASEAN has covered not only political security matters such as defense and transnational crime and mutual legal assistance but also mutual economic activities, which all helped in community building in ASEAN and also socio-cultural and people-to-people activities,'' Espiritu said during a Palace press briefing.

The main day of the Summit will include discussions on the South China Sea and East China Sea as well as the situation in Myanmar and North Korea, Espiritu said.

''I will not give the details. Statements on these are still under negotiations. So let's just wait for the statements to finish,'' Espiritu said.

He said that Marcos would also meet with business leaders at the sidelines of the Summit. Espiritu added that the business meetings would be led by the Department of Trade and Industry.

''This is important because I remember during our last briefing, one of the questions posed here was what happened to the pledges before right, so this will be an opportunity to see what the progress are… I won't go into details, ang daming [there are many] businesses involved,'' Espiritu said.

Marcos' bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is being ''firmed up,'' Espiritu said.

In February, the President also visited Japan for a state visit wherein 35 investment deals have been signed between the two countries. The sectors include infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and healthcare. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News