(Eagle News) — President Bongbong Marcos and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discussed cooperation between the two countries on trade, security, and the rights of overseas Filipino workers in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
“Our trade, our connection, has been growing at a steady pace. And we want perhaps after things open up even more and come back to what we all considered to be normal, it would increase,” the President told Ardern, according to a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary.
The President was also quoted as saying that the “best solution is just have strong partnerships.”
“You can have slightly different positions within that —but you are members of a political aggrupation and economic aggrupation, there’s strength in numbers,” he added.
According to the OPS, Ardern, meanwhile, praised Filipinos working and living in New Zealand.
The OPS said she told Marcos that Filipinos are an important part of New Zealand society.
No further details on the meeting were released to the media.
The President had previous bilateral meetings with other world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping.
