MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 14, 2012) – Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman visited the Philippines to further broaden bilateral ties between the two countries.
“My presence in the Philippines bears testimony to the profound ties of friendship and shared values between our Governments and peoples and is an expression of a new time of emergence and convergence between South East Asia and South America that is apparent in the furthering and strengthening of our political, commercial and cultural links,” Timerman said in a statement released by the Philippine Foreign Affairs to the Mindanao Examiner.
It said both sides discussed the state of bilateral relations and analyzed and identified areas of mutual interest for the development of technical cooperation in the fields of science and technology, agriculture, diplomacy, trade and energy.
Timerman arrived on September 13 for a two-day visit – the first ever by a Latin American foreign minister under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
On Friday, Timerman met with his Filipino counterpart Albert del Rosario and also held talks with Philippine legislators who are members of the Philippines-Argentina Parliamentary Friendship Association.
“As the first foreign minister from Latin America to visit the Philippines under the administration of President Aquino, Minister Timerman’s visit is a milestone in Philippine-Argentina relations. It reaffirms the close ties that have always existed between our two countries,” Del Rosario said in the same statement.
Del Rosario said Timerman also called on the Filipino leader at Malacañang Palace in Manila.
“The Argentine Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude for the reception and conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes of the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to the Philippine President, while stressing the importance of this visit as it aims to increase cooperation between the two countries to a new level on the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations which will be celebrated in 2013,” the Foreign Affairs statement said.
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