The Philippines and Australia further strengthened their strategic ties on Thursday with the signing of three memorandum of understanding (MOUs) on maritime and technology cooperation, and stronger competition rules.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese witnessed the signing of MOUs in Canberra, Australia on Thursday.

Through the improved maritime cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, both nations can work together even more closely to advance their shared objectives for the region, which include respect for international law, civil maritime security, marine environment protection, and maritime domain awareness.

In the joint press statement, Marcos Jr. said that defense and security continue to be important areas of collaboration between the two strategic partners.

"We look forward to amplifying our joint activities and the capacity-building efforts in this regard," he said.

Prime Minister Albanese, for his part, said that the Philippines and Australia will carry on with their maritime cooperative operations as regional partners dedicated to contributing to the maintenance of peace and security in the area.

Albanese said that both nations also inked an MOU intended to enhance collaboration on critical and cyber technology.

"We’ll work together to promote the open and secure use of cyberspace through a new MOU which we have signed today," Albanese said.

Finally, both the Philippines and Australia signed an MOU to further cooperation on competition law and policy.

Given the pressures people in the Philippines and Australia are under due to rising costs of living, Albanese remarked that this is a "highly relevant issue".

Marcos Jr. said that the three agreements will improve cyberspace and vital technology, competition legislation, and marine domain and environment information sharing, capability building, and interoperability amongst pertinent government entities.

"The three agreements add to the more than 120 agreements that our two countries have signed through the decades," Marcos Jr. said, noting that the two countries have agreements in defense cooperation, air services, education, research, scientific and cultural cooperation, among others.

"The Prime Minister and I both agreed to continue to look for ways to explore every option possible, to bring our countries closer than ever and collectively, with optimism and hopeful outlook, to be a force of good, unity, stability, and prosperity in our region," he added.