Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Burma foreign minister to visit Philippines

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Tuesday, 12 June 2012 15:31 Mizzima News

Burma’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, will visit the Philippines on Thursday and Friday to attend the second meeting of the Manila-Yangon Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario Photo: philippine-embassy.at
His visit follows the trip made by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Burma in February, which the government said marked a new page in Philippine and Burma relations.

Burma foreign minister to visit Philippines

The Philippines foreign office said the JCBC was a “political mechanism for the two countries to discuss areas of mutual interest, such as political cooperation, trade and investments, tourism, education, human rights, agriculture and forestry, culture and information, and law enforcement,” said the Inquirer newspaper.

Both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1956.

During his trip, Del Rosario met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who was then preparing to run for a seat in Parliament, which she won in the April by-elections.

Del Rosario said when he met Suu Kyi he declared support for the lifting of sanctions against Burma and offered to develop closer ties in Philippines-Burma trade and other areas.

On February 8, Del Rosario called on President Thein Sein and held discussions with Foreign Minister Wunna.

He congratulated his hosts for the “political, economic and social reforms they have undertaken.”

For his part, Thein Sein urged the Philippine business community to “invest in various sectors of the Myanmar economy, such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture, forestry, and in the development of sea ports and other infrastructure.”

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