Philippines, US and Japan push to advance trilateral economic ties

The Philippines, the United States, and Japan are focused on developing their trilateral economic partnership to complement their growing security ties, the US State Department has announced. 

According to the Philippine News Agency (PNA), the foreign ministers of the three states - Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi - discussed the plan and the need to unlock more private sector investments in their flagship Luzon Economic Corridor.

They met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related foreign ministers’ meeting in Malaysia on Thursday (July 10), the statement said.

The State Department said Rubio highlighted Manila’s wealth in critical minerals and stressed the need to diversify critical mineral supply chains.

The officials proposed advancing trilateral cooperation in the Philippines on cyber security, energy (including civil nuclear energy), and investments in reliable and secure telecommunications networks.

They concluded with an agreement to hold sectoral trilateral discussions at the senior officials’ level in the coming months to advance their shared desire for peace and security in the region.

In the same meeting, the officials reaffirmed their interest in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific and agreed to coordinate cooperation on maritime security, including through Maritime Cooperative Activities, trilateral military exercises, and capacity building and assistance for the Philippine Coast Guard and other Philippine maritime authorities. 

Source: The Star