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Magandang umaga, my Filipino friends. It is my great pleasure to visit the Philippines as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.
Japan and the Philippines have a long history of exchange dating back to the 16th century. Especially over the past few years, the Japan-Philippines relations have made remarkable progress in a wide range of areas, including security, economy and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. November in 2023, Prime Minister Kishida visited Manila and addressed at the Philippine Congress for the first time as the Prime Minister of Japan. He expressed his determination to elevate the “Heart-to-heart ties” established by our predecessors to new heights and pass them on to the next generation. The warm applause from the audience who filled the hall shows the depth of the ties between our two countries. I hope that my visit to the Philippines further develop our bilateral relationship on these foundations.
This will be the second Japan-Philippines Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”), following the one in 2022. Japan and the Philippines are neighbors linked by the sea. As the world faces a historical turning point, cooperation between our two strategic partners, which are both maritime nations sharing fundamental values and principles, is essential to maintain and strengthen the free and open international order based on the rule of law. Recently, the cooperation has made steady progress, including efforts toward the conclusion of the Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement and the provision of warning and control radars, coastal surveillance radars, and large patrol vessels.
