MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and the Republic of Indonesia have strengthened their bilateral relations with the signing of a joint declaration and several memoranda of understanding (MOUs).
President Benigno S. Aquino III and Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed the signing of the joint declaration and the MOUs during their Expanded Bilateral Meeting at the Reception Hall of Malacañang Palace on Monday afternoon.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and his Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, signed the Joint Declaration on the Protection of Migrants and Migrant Workers.
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director-General Joel Villanueva and Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture Anies Baswedan signed the MOU for the Cooperation in the Field of Technical Vocational Education and Training, which aims to promote mutual cooperation in education, training and research. It also aims to develop benchmarking and comparability of standards and qualifications in priority sectors and conduct capacity-building programs.
President of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) Fermin de Leon, Jr. and Governor of Indonesia’s Lembaga Ketahanan Nasional (Lemhanas) Budi Susilo Soepandji meanwhile inked the MOU for the Cooperation in Education, Research and Training in the field of defense and security studies.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director-General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac and head of Indonesia’s National Narcotics Board Anang Iskandar signed the MOU on the Cooperation in Combating Illicit Trafficking and Abuse of Narcotics, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors.
Philippines, Indonesia strengthened ties
