Phl to engage in bilateral activities with Brunei

The Philippines will engage in more bilateral activities related to tourism, food security, agriculture, maritime, and seafaring with the government of Brunei Darussalam, Malacañang announced on Tuesday.

This development came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. forged at least three memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and one letter of intent (LOI) with Bruneian Sultanate Hassanal Bolkiah on Tuesday during his two-day visit to Brunei. 

Among the signed pacts are those that would boost tourism cooperation between the Philippines and Brunei Darussalam. 

The Philippines and Brunei also renewed their memorandum of understanding on food security and agricultural cooperation.

In a bilateral meeting with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Marcos underscored the Philippines and Brunei's continuing "active and close engagements in all areas of the bilateral cooperation."

"And for that, we hope to expand the partnerships that we have begun and we feel that there is much potential that we can examine," Marcos said. 

"I think the MOUs that are being signed today that we shall witness, Your Majesty, will be a very good start to once again re-energize, and I think the areas that we have talked about – that we have paid attention to for these MOUs are certainly rich with potential," he added. 

Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) of Brunei Darussalam will work together to generate cooperative tourism projects and increase tourist arrivals in both nations. 

They also agreed to support niche tourism development, particularly in the area of Islamic tourism and the promotion of Muslim-friendly destinations. 

Further, both countries seek to enhance their mutual recognition of standards of training, certification, and watchkeeping (STCW) certificates and further improve maritime cooperation activities. 

The STCW certificates allow the national agencies of the Philippines and Brunei to recognize the national certificates issued by both focal agencies.

It also replaces and updates a prior MOU between the Philippines and Brunei signed in 2001. 

Under the Maritime Cooperation MOU, the Philippines and Brunei agreed to further collaborate on addressing pollution, as well as boosting both countries' skills training, research, and information sharing as maritime nations. 

Marcos hopes the partnership between the Philippines and Brunei will surpass the signed MOUs and LOI. 

Bolkiah, for his part, the economic ties and people-to-people exchange between the Philippines and Brunei must be strengthened further to ensure that both countries mutually benefit. 

"I'm looking forward to further enhancing our friendship in areas of future interest, which I believe will greatly benefit our countries and people," Bolkiah said, noting that his newly signed agreements with Marcos would "foster deeper cooperation and understanding between the Filipinos and Bruneians."

Marcos visited Brunei Darussalam upon the invitation of the Sultan. 

The Philippines and Brunei are commemorating their more than 40 years of diplomatic relations since it was formalized on 1 January 1984.