Marcos’ two-day visit to Vietnam set on January 29-30

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to fly to Vietnam for a two-day state visit on January 29 where he will be discussing a range of regional affairs with leaders of the Philippines’ only strategic partner in the ASEAN bloc.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Friday that Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos will be visiting Vietnam next week upon the invitation of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong. 

Marcos’ trip to Vietnam — the president's first visit to the country since he took office in 2022 — also caps off the Philippines’ five-year action plan to strengthen bilateral relations with Vietnam, which was signed in 2019.

Next week's meeting between the two Southeast Asian leaders will involve discussions on "food security, agricultural cooperation, trade and important regional and international issues,” the DFA said.

Marcos' visit aims to prompt an "in-depth discussion" on the agricultural cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam, which has been the Philippines’ top supplier of rice in recent years, according to a Presidential Communications Office (PCO) release.

The president will be joined by members of his Cabinet, including DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo.

The Philippines and Vietnam also have various areas of cooperation, including defense and security, maritime, agriculture and people-to-people relations, the PCO added.

Both the Philippines and Vietnam, among other Southeast Asian countries, have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, the near-entirety of which China has claimed to have jurisdiction over. — Cristina Chi