Malaysia And Philippines Enjoy Good Bilateral Ties - Ambassador

From Zainal Abdul Jalil MANILA, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and the Philippines continue to enjoy very warm and cordial bilateral ties in spite of political challenges particularly surrounding the Sulu Sea in Southern Philippines. Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines, Datuk Raszlan Abdul Rashid said security and law enforcement issues and concerns in regard to the area could be resolved in the spirit of Asean. "Both government-to-government as well as the highest political leaderships are enjoying a good relationship which saw positive transformation since both countries had already established diplomatic ties decades ago," he said. Raszlan said this at a dinner to fete the Raja Muda of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail and Reserve Officer Training Units from five public universities who are on a three-day Academic and Military Strategic visit here from Tuesday, at his residence here, last night. Tuanku Syed Faizuddin who is also Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Chancellor and Commander of the 504th Territorial Army Regiment based at Bukit Ketri, Padang is leading the delegation. The visitors were also given briefings on security by Major-general Datuk Zamros Mohd Zain, who heads the International Monitoring Team led by Malaysia based at Cotabato, Mindanao and Col Hamzah Ali, who is Defence Adviser at the embassy's office in Manila. "We have a multidimensional relationship and cooperation with Philippines which encompass many aspects particularly defence and security aside from economy," said Raszlan. On the visit, he said the Philippine government welcomed the programme as it promoted various areas of mutual interest between the two countries. Meanwhile, he told Bernama that both countries recorded a total trade of US$5 billion last year; Malaysia's exports to the Philippines totaled US$3.3 billion and imports, US$1.7 billion. He said a trade surplus of US$D1.6 billion was recorded last year while the country is Malaysia's fifth largest trading partner in ASEAN. Malaysia's main export to the Philippines are electrical and electronic goods, petroleum and chemical products as well as palm oil, he said, adding, the Philippines offered investments for halal products, infrastructure, construction material, information technology, banking, furniture, and education and halal restaurant franchises. -- BERNAMA