S.V. Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Holds Negotiations with A. Del Rosario, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines

PRESS RELEASE

13 March, S.V. Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, had negotiations with Albert Del Rosario, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Philippines, staying in Moscow on an official visit.

The parties constructively exchanged the opinions about the prospects of the Russian- Philippine relations and development of the partnership interaction in the international arena.

The parties underlined that the relations between Russia and the Philippines have recently been showing the progressive dynamics. In the context of discussion of the trade and economic cooperation special attention was paid to the issues of extension of the volume and product range of mutual trade as well as activation of the investment interaction. The ministers discussed the tasks of creation of the mutually-beneficial cooperation in the innovative and technology intensive areas, agriculture, fishing industry, and education. Steps will be taken to promote the exchange in such promising area as tourism. The parties have agreed to develop interaction in the emergency action area, to encourage deepening of the contacts between the defence ministries.

While considering the international affairs the parties noted that the similar stands of Russia and The Philippines in regard to various current issues allow presuming closer interaction between the two countries in world affairs, including cooperation in multilateral formats, primarily in the UN and the integration structures of the Asia-Pacific Region – the East Asian Summits, ASEAN Regional Forum on Security, the Asia-Europe Meeting, and the dialogue partnership between Russia and ASEAN. The parties confirmed the mutual intention for the specific work aimed at the creation of open, transparent, and equitable architecture of security and cooperation in APR, as well as close coordination of approaches within the activities of APEC forum during the presidency of Russia in 2012.

It is decided to intensify the contacts between the ministries of foreign affair ofz two countries for the benefit of further development of the Russian-Philippine relations.

A. Del Rosario invited S.V. Lavrov to make a visit to The Philippines. The invitation was gratefully accepted. The time of the visit will be agreed upon through the diplomatic channels.

13 March 2012