December 8, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is eyeing future tie ups with Chile in agriculture, specifically cacao cultivation and processing, President Marcos said on Friday as he welcomed Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren at Malacañang.
Marcos said cacao is becoming a very important crop, and the Philippines is trying to promote it.
“And you have, I think, the best technologies when it comes to that product,” the President told the Chilean official.
“There are other investments that we were trying to explore,” Marcos added.
Among those present at the courtesy call on the President was Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque.
Roque said the two countries are also looking at fish and minerals exports from Mindanao.
“(There are) skin beauty products and other things that we can (explore) … And also, the agriculture sector and the seafood products that we can export to them,” Roque said.
She mentioned the deep sea port that was opened in Peru that improved the transport of Asian products to South America.
Marcos vowed to further strengthen ties and cooperation between the two countries.
“And that is, I think, the best way forward in this very interconnected world,” the President said.
“Although physical distance used to be a problem or an obstacle, that does not apply any longer. So, I think there’s much that we can do to further the relations and the partnerships between our two countries,” he said.
Marcos also expressed gratitude to Chile for confirming its support for the Philippines’ bid to the United Nations Security Council for the term 2027-2028.
The Philippines is also backing Chile’s candidature to the body for the term 2029-2030.
Despite his short stay, the Chilean official said he had a very productive meeting with his counterpart, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.
“We talked about our bilateral relations, about regional and global issues and about the potential of our bilateral relations,” Klaveren told Marcos.
The Philippines and Chile established diplomatic relations on July 4, 1946.
In 2023, Chile was the Philippines’ 49th trading partner out of 230; 47th export market out of 205 and 50th import supplier out of 221.
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