Your Excellency, Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia; distinguished members of the Malaysian delegation, Mr. Vice President, my fellow workers in the Cabinet and in the government, ladies and gentlemen:

I wish to convey my warm welcome especially to our Malaysian friends to this centuries-old office, which the Spanish governors of the time called Malacañang. My predecessors retained the name except that one President, the late Ramon Magsaysay, dropped the word palace appendaged to it.

Back there, at the Music Room (which I have come to use as a small meeting room), its four walls and our two distinguished note-takers, bore witness to the unfolding of yet another chapter in our two countries’ history seemingly destined to be intertwined by natural congenital ties and geographic realities.

With his permission, may I report that the Prime Minister and I have agreed that our two governments would consult each other constantly and coordinate our approaches and moves not only on bilateral issues but also on those of regional and international concern in the context of the East ASEAN Growth Area, ASEAN and the East Asian Economic Caucus.

Our ministers had reported to us the fast pace of developments since my visit to the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur not more than a year ago. We thank your excellency for your determined reaffirmation of confidence in the Philippine leadership demonstrated by at least ten significant high-level visits of your officials, scholars and businessmen, which we will continue to reciprocate. Joint-venture and investment arrangements have been formalized. I understand that more of these trade and investment contracts will be signed and sealed this afternoon after this session.

We jointly endorse the report of our foreign ministers on the first meeting last December of our joint commission for bilateral cooperation which covered a wide range of agreement on an equally broad field of cooperation: trade and investments, science and technology, agriculture, wood-based industries, eco-tourism, human resources development, trans-border flows, defense relations and people-to-people exchanges.

Our communities for border cooperation and for fisheries are scheduled to meet very soon to discuss the administrative details of our agreements, and, finally, the pearl in the blue sea of our ever-warming relationship, of historical affinity and brotherly affection, our very own four-country venture — the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) — is undergoing a final coordination process prior to its formal take-off stage.

We are here today not only to assess our bilateral achievements so far, but to set up guideposts for future action, and to identify common initiatives for further cooperation.

We seek assistance from divine providence to guide us in our deliberations at this important point of our life as two nations no longer estranged by historical aberrations but bound by a commonality of interests and aspirations.

Thank you.