General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife arrive in Manila to begin State visit to the Philippines
On the afternoon of May 31 (local time), General Secretary and President To Lam, together with his wife and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, began activities in the program of the State visit to the Philippines at the invitation of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and his wife.
Welcoming General Secretary and President To Lam and the delegation at the airport were Philippine Minister of Agriculture Tui Laurel Jr. - Minister accompanying the President, Philippine Social Welfare Undersecretary Dian Arroyo Tantoco - official accompanying the First Lady, Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Francisco Noel Fernandez III, Chief of Protocol of the Presidential Palace Reichel Quinones; Congressman Antonio Calixto, Mayor of Pasay City Imeld Calixto-Rubia, Vietnamese Ambassador to Vietnam Lai Thai Binh and his wife, along with a large number of officials and staff of the embassy and the Vietnamese community in the Philippines.
This working trip is particularly significant, as it is the first time a General Secretary of our Party has visited the Philippines, and takes place as the two countries are approaching the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, while the Philippines is chairing ASEAN 2026.
The Philippines is currently one of Vietnam's important markets in ASEAN, especially in agriculture and food. Vietnam is an important rice supplier to the Philippines, helping to ensure food security for the friend, while providing a stable outlet for Vietnamese agricultural products. However, compared to the good political relations and the potential of the two economies, economic cooperation between the two countries still has much room to develop more strongly. Therefore, the working trip of the General Secretary and President is an opportunity for both sides to explore potential to expand cooperation in trade, logistics, high-tech agriculture, digital economy, renewable energy, fisheries, and marine economy.
