PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said the country is now eyeing to address its trade deficit with Vietnam with the return of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Ho Chi Minh City this year.
Marcos made the remark during his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the sidelines of the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Summits in Cambodia on Thursday.
He said the PTIC is “expected to enhance economic relations between Vietnam and the Philippines.”
“In the past few years, we have seen the great success, the great economic success that Vietnam has enjoyed and with that even Filipino investors have started to go to Vietnam to be part of this development in your country, and since then our trade has increased,”
Marcos said.
The President hopes the improved trade partnership will help the country correct its “trade imbalance” with Vietnam.
Last year, the overall trade between the Philippines and Vietnam reached $5.6 billion. The bulk, $4.2 billion represented the country’s imports to Vietnam, while the remaining $1.6 billion were exports.
To note, 90 percent of the country’s rice imports come from Vietnam.
Maritime issues
Aside from trade, Marcos also sought a “common ground” with Vietnam in terms of international issues such as the rising tensions in Taiwan and the crisis in Myanmar.
“All of these issues are of extreme importance and of extreme urgency. And that is why I believe Asean must find common ground from which to face those challenges,” Marcos said.
For his part, Prime Minister Chinh raised maritime issues during the meeting, which includes illegal fishing as well as the adherence to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
He also lauded the country’s response to the pandemic and its high economic growth.
Vietnam, like the Philippines, also has maritime territorial disputes with China.