Villamor Air Base, Pasay City
December 11, 2022

“Philippine interest will always enter into all of my discussions,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. emphasized in his departure statement prior to his flight bound for Brussels, Belgium to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – European Union (ASEAN-EU) Commemorative Summit from December 12-14, 2022.

“This will be the first meeting between ASEAN and EU Member States’ Leaders at the EU Headquarters and I am pleased to highlight the Philippines’ role as country coordinator for ASEAN in its Dialogue Relations with the EU,” the President underscored in his message.

He further expressed that he is looking forward to “another productive and meaningful Summit that recognizes ASEAN and the EU’s four-and-a-half decades of long-standing relations.”

After delivering his statement, the Chief Executive had a brief discussion with some of his Cabinet members before being officially sent off by Vice President and concurrent Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte, and other high-ranking Philippine government officials.

Apart from the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit, he is also set to meet with fellow leaders from several European countries such as Belgium, Estonia, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland and the Netherlands to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss various areas of cooperation, especially on post-pandemic recovery, energy, food security, maritime security, digital transformation, climate change action, and biodiversity management and conservation.

President Marcos Jr. will also spend time to be with the Filipino community in Belgium during his first visit to European soil as Chief Executive of the Republic of the Philippines and ASEAN Leader.

* * *