Thailand, Philippines work to maintain regional peace, stability
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte committed to working together Thailand and with other concerned sides to boost maritime cooperation and maintain peace, stability at sea.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (right) and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (Source: AFP)
Bangkok (VNA) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte committed to workingtogether Thailand and with other concerned sides to boost maritime cooperationand maintain peace, stability at sea at his talks with Prime Minister PrayutChan-ocha on March 21 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ata press conference following the talks, the leaders emphasised the need for thefull and effective implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of Partiesin the East Sea (DOC) in 2002 and complete the framework for a Code of Conduct inthe East Sea (COC) this year.
Bothsides agreed on maintaining peace, stability and security as well as respectingfreedom of navigation and over-flight in the East Sea for the sake of allcountries in and outside the region.
Thehost leader said Thailand wishes the East Sea would be turned into the sea ofpeace, stability and sustainable development.
Thetwo leaders discussed cooperation in security, especially the combat againstdrugs traffickers, as well as measures to promote bilateral trade andinvestment.
Theyalso witnessed the signing of three cooperation agreements covering animalbreeding, tourism, and science and technology.
Duterte arrived in Bangkok on March 20 for a three-day official visit, thefirst official one since he took office in June, 2016.
He is scheduled to meet Thai businesses and the Philippine community of 14,000people in the host country.
Thailandand the Philippines established diplomatic ties in June 1949. The latter is thefifth largest trade partner of Thailand in ASEAN.
Thetwo-way trade value between the two nations exceeded 8.3 billion USD in 2016,up 9.22 percent from 2015. Thailand earned 5.8 billion USD from export to thePhilippines.-VNA
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Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (right) and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (Source: AFP)
