MANILA: Philippines’ Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Danish Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen signed early this month a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark on the establishment of a mechanism for bilateral consultations.
The MOU will be the two countries’ guide in convening their biennial bilateral consultations, particularly regional and global cooperation on political security, economy, culture, education, science and technology and law enforcement.
Knudsen and Manalo discussed a wide range of issues affecting bilateral relations, including general political and economic developments in both countries, support of each other’s candidatures in the United Nations and other international organizations, cooperation in international fora, possible visits to Denmark by Philippine officials, opening of the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen in 2018, the Philippine chairmanship of the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea, the Philippines-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Brexit and the future of Europe.
Prior to the signing of the guidelines for bilateral cooperation, Manalo addressed a regional meeting of Danish ambassadors in the Asia-Pacific at a working lunch.
He spoke on the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship, and Philippine and ASEAN relations with China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and India.
