The Philippines and Germany are eyeing the signing of a broader Arrangement on Defense Cooperation before the end of the year, according to the two countries’ defense officials, who met Sunday in Manila.

Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro Jr. and his German counterpart, Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, said the revitalized deal would be comprehensive.

Teodoro and Pistorius made the announcement after meeting in a Makati City Hotel yesterday amid the territorial challenges being faced by the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, which is being claimed by China as part of the broader South China Sea.

The two leaders tackled the expanded scope of mutually beneficial cooperation between the Philippines and Germany, which will foray “into new areas.”

Pistorius’ first-ever visit to Manila also coincided with the 70th anniversary of the establishment in 1954 of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Germany.

It may be recalled that Pistorius also had a meeting with then-Defense OIC, Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., in June last year on the sidelines of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue.

Pistorius and Galvez discussed prospects of deepening defense cooperation between the Philippines and Germany with their shared goal of upholding peace and stability.

“It’s ongoing to be prepared during the months to come and hopefully to be signed before the end of the year, maybe already in October; we will see about that,” Pistorius said on Sunday about the defense deal between prepared.

For his part, Teodoro stressed that the soon-to-be concluded Philippine-Germany Arrangement on Defense Cooperation will help revamp the country’s security build-up which would allow it to present a credible archipelagic defensive posture.