President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is looking forward for a stronger relationship between the Philippines and Czech Republic.

On Thursday, Marcos welcomed Czech Republic’s Defense Minister Jana Černochová in Malacañang Palace.

During their meeting, the President expressed confidence in strenghtening the two countries ties especially in the field of economy, defense and security.

“I am very optimistic for the future in terms of our relationship with each other. In all things, on the people-to-people side, on the economic side, the defense and security, the diplomatic and government-to-government,” he said.

“I think that really there is much that we can do together, and there are many areas that we still need to explore,” he added.

Marcos recalled his previous meeting with Czech Republic President Petr Pavel with whom he discussed future partnerships and cooperation through trade and investment, agriculture, green economy and renewable energy, defense, cybersecurity, education, tourism, and labor.

“I remember very well that we had our talks that we had really extended beyond what our ministries had said on the subject matter and extended far beyond that,” he said.

Marcos thanked the Czech Republic delegation for their visit to Manila and hoped it was as productive as their previous meeting between the two governments.

“I am very happy that you are able to come, and we thank you very much for taking the time to visit us, especially after what was the very productive visit that we had in Prague,” he said.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), there are more than 7,000 Filipinos working in Czech Republic in processing industry, automotive, repairs and appliances, manufacturing, IT communications, real estate, health and wellness, and household service work.