I am delighted to welcome his excellency Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia and his delegation to the Philippines. I welcome him as the leader of an ASEAN partner and neighbor, the first Malaysian head of government to make an official visit to our country since the foundation of Malaysia.

Last year, His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong graciously invited me to visit Malaysia, an invitation that had been made possible by the bold and far-sighted decision of the Malaysian government and of the prime minister himself. Almost exactly one year ago, in response to that invitation, I made a state visit to Malaysia, a visit that was historic in its own way, being the first by a Philippine president to Malaysia in twenty-five years.

Malaysia’s invitation and my visit opened a whole new era in Philippine-Malaysian relations, as we agreed to transcend our differences and build on our natural affinities and common interests, which have deep roots in history.

In the year since my journey to Kuala Lumpur, many visits have been exchanged by others from our two countries. In some cases, the Malaysian businessmen’s search for trade and investment opportunities has already borne fruit for both sides in the form of substantial investments made in the Philippines, including a major tourist facility in Subic. A few minutes ago, we witnessed the signing of various joint-venture agreements, including agreements in the critical areas of water supply, banking and tourism. We are indeed gratified by the presence on the prime minister’s delegation of more than eighty top Malaysian businessmen.

Malaysia Airlines has begun flying between Kota Kinabalu and Cebu. Philippine Airlines has opened a regular flight between Zamboanga and Labuan.

Meanwhile, our officials are making satisfactory progress in their work on a bilateral investment guarantee agreement.

The joint commission, which Prime Minister Mahathir and I agreed to establish, held its first meeting in Manila last December, with results covering an extensive range of areas of cooperation that are of great importance for both our countries.

We have thus seen the progressive transformation of Philippine-Malaysian relations.

Prime Minister Mahathir’s visit to our country gives new impetus to this process of transformation and accelerates its momentum. It raises Philippine-Malaysian relations to a higher plane. It places those relations on a new level of genuine partnership.

During our talks this afternoon, Prime Minister Mahathir and I reiterated our commitment to the establishment of the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) among Mindanao, east Malaysia, eastern Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. The EAGA will tie together those regions that are contiguous to one another through direct transportation and communication links, the sharing of facilities, the joint marshaling of complementary resources, the unhampered flow of goods, services and persons, and networks of officials, institutions, and a wide variety of sectors.

We agreed on the early convening of the joint committee on border cooperation so as to greatly facilitate, as well as more effectively regulate, the movement of goods and people across our border. We discussed the situation of the Filipino migrants in Sabah and of the Filipino workers in Peninsular Malaysia.

Prime Minister Mahathir reiterated his invitation to the Philippines to send trade and investment missions to Malaysia, put up trade fairs there, and provide information on Philippine products and investment opportunities to Malaysia’s business community. He expressed Malaysia’s particular interest in joint ventures, including infrastructure development, joint air services, and the privatization of government enterprises.

We agreed to deepen our cooperation in the judicious development of our aquatic and forest resources and help each other in research and technology in these and other areas of complementary expertise. We are determined to cooperate in carrying out the intent and spirit of the 1992 Manila Declaration on the South China Sea — both bilaterally and with our other neighbors — particularly in the peaceful solution of the disputes in the area and in joint scientific and economic endeavors there.

We renewed our commitment to the realization of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and to the early launching of the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC), a concept that arose from dr. Mahathir’s statesmanly vision, a proposal which we fully support.

We agreed to expand our areas of cooperation and, accordingly, to consult with each other regularly on global, regional and bilateral issues, at many levels and in many sectors. Specifically, we agreed that we ourselves should meet periodically in order to solidify the new partnership between our countries and between us personally.

I am convinced that this partnership will provide vital and constructive elements for enhancing the security of the Philippines and the prosperity of our people, and become a force for stability and progress in our region.

Thank you.