Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
October 17, 2016

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah held a bilateral meeting shortly after the welcome ceremony at the Istana Nurul Iman to discuss the various areas of cooperation between the Philippines and Brunei.

According to Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., the two leaders and their respective delegation “discussed the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN for next year and that the Sultan himself had expressed his full support to our President who will be heading the chairmanship next year towards strengthening ASEAN, towards ensuring that the focus of ASEAN centrality and solidarity will be pursued and be given more meaning.”

The fight against transnational crime was also discussed, as well as the war against illegal drugs, which the Sultan himself had fully supported.

“We will also be engaging joint cooperation on maritime security, defense, sharing information to interdict piracy in the area between Brunei and the Philippines,” Secretary Yasay added.

According to Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, President Duterte expressed in the same meeting that the Philippines welcomes more investments from Brunei, considering that the Philippines is among the fast-growing economies in the world.

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