President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the next Philippines-Malaysia Joint Commission Meeting to discuss priority cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.
He made the announcement following his bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday.
During a joint press conference with Malaysia's leader, Marcos said that they agreed to hold the Joint Commission Meeting to provide a forum for Philippine and Malaysian government agencies to discuss cooperation in depth, particularly in transnational crimes, agriculture, the Halal industry, Islamic banking, education, tourism and culture, sports, and the digital economy.
He said Malaysia has provided its experience to teach Philippine troops and officials in these critical sectors.
The President added that both countries also agreed to strengthen their commercial and investment connections, stressing that with Malaysia being one of the world's leading halal economies, the partnership may benefit both countries.
Recognizing the significance of ASEAN Centrality, Marcos and Anwar reaffirmed their commitment to supporting ASEAN and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) operations.
The President thanked the Malaysian government and people for the warm welcome offered to him, the First Lady, and the whole Philippine mission.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, on his part, said that they had agreed with Marcos to assemble the joint panel in order to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Malaysia was the Philippines' tenth largest trading partner last year, with commerce totaling US$8.84 billion.
Malaysia was the country's 11th export destination and 9th import source during the same period, with values of US$2.46 billion and US$6.38 billion, respectively.
It was placed 22nd among the Philippines' top investment partners in 2022 and the 4th source of foreign direct investment (FDI) with US$105.7 million, representing a 56.4 percent increase from January to September 2022.
Manufacturing, agribusiness (Halal, value-added processing, and agricultural products manufacturing/downstream industry), service industry (high-value and value-added services), and infrastructure and property development are the top priority sectors for investment promotion in Malaysia.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs); energy, particularly renewable energy; and BIMP-EAGA priority industries are also among Malaysia's top sectors for development.
In 1959, the Philippines established a Legation in Kuala Lumpur, which was eventually promoted to the status of an embassy in 1961. Relations between Malaysia and the Philippines were cemented in December 1969, after some stumbling blocks.
