Royal Palace, Brussels
15 September 2014 

President Benigno S. Aquino III had an audience with His Majesty King Philippe at the Royal Palace on the first day of his Working Visit to Belgium.

Since establishing diplomatic ties on 4 July 1946, the Philippines and Belgium have an endearing closeness brought about by exchanges of visits throughout the years.

In 1979, King Philippe’s father, His Majesty King Albert II who was then Crown Prince, visited the Philippines as head of Belgium’s economic mission.  This led to the establishment of the Light Railway Transit I (LRT I) in Metro Manila by a Belgian consortium.

On the other hand, King Philippe, who was then Crown Prince in 1996, led a Belgian trade foreign mission to the Philippines and recalled his visit to the country with fondness.

President Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, visited Belgium in 1989 upon the invitation of the late Belgian King Baudouin (King Philippe’s uncle).  The late king even sent a plane to Paris, France where the democracy icon was in order to bring her to Brussels.

According to Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Victoria Bataclan, relations between the two countries have been characterized by close cooperation towards the common aspirations of peace, freedom, democracy and the promotion of the well-being and prosperity of the people of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Belgium.

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