President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is set to hold bilateral meetings with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, and other heads of state at the sidelines of the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 10-13 November.

This was announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs during a press conference in Malacañang on Friday.

DFA Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Nathaniel Imperial said while the President's meeting with the Cambodian Prime Minister and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been finalized, Marcos would certainly meet with other leaders.

Imperial said the President understands that ASEAN is a "great opportunity" to meet his counterparts, thus he will seize the moment to discuss mutually beneficial opportunities.

"So far, we're still finalizing the bilateral meetings that will be conducted by the President. But I think it would be safe to say that the first one would be with the host government, Cambodia. So, the President is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen. As a matter of courtesy, it will be their first meeting and the first meeting as the new President of the Philippines," Imperial said.

"We also expect a bilateral meeting between the President and the Korean president. As you know, the Republic of Korea is a key partner of the Philippines economically, in terms of defense and security, and also in terms of tourism, and we have a very multifaceted relationship with the Republic of Korea," he added.

Imperial added that the two leaders are expected to discuss current and pending issues and the conclusion of the free trade agreement between the Philippines and Korea.

"Korea is only the second country with which we will be concluding a free trade agreement after Japan. Aside from that, we have very robust defense and security cooperation, as you well know," he said.

Meanwhile, DFA Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Daniel Espiritu, the President will tackle his foreign policy priorities during his participation in the ASEAN summits.

"At the top of the list is the post-pandemic economic recovery and transformation. So that would cover food security, energy security, digital transformation and the digital economy, and climate change as much as this is very much related to our disaster management efforts in the Philippines," Espiritu said.

He added: "Now, with regard to international issues especially in Myanmar, we are very much at the forefront of the call for the implementation of the five-point consensus. And then, on other international issues such as Ukraine, we are, of course, calling for the cessation of hostilities, and the return of the concerned parties to the negotiating table."

Marcos is also expected to talk about the negative global impact of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on the global economy, stagflation, energy shortage, food shortage, and other ramifications.

"Now, the South China Sea will also be there because we always carry that in all of our meetings in the international fora," he added.

The ASEAN Summit is the highest policy-making body in the region, comprising the heads of state or government of ten member-states.