President Rodrigo Duterte has called for the gradual reopening of travel corridors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to trade and tourism to restore the bloc's respective pandemic-hit economies.
At the same time, Duterte said Asean countries and India must work together to enhance cooperation in fighting terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crimes through exchanges of best practices and information.
In his statement during the 14th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit, Duterte said, “it is time that we open our borders safely to reinvigorate our trade and tourism sectors.”
Duterte cited the rising vaccination rates given to its populace to stop the virus.
“The creation of these travel corridors would allow people to enter certain territories without the need to quarantine, subject to certain requirements such as full COVID-19 vaccination,” he said.
He emphasized the need to revitalize economic exchanges within the region through deeper integration.
During the summit, Duterte also stressed the need to re-establish air and sea linkages disrupted by the pandemic and pointed out the importance of investing in digital infrastructure to address development gaps.
“Let us then work swiftly towards the early entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement,” he said.
The RCEP is an Asean-led Free Trade Agreement which merges its existing regional FTAs with those agreed with Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand into a single economic partnership agreement.
The agreement is an open and rules-based trading system that can accelerate the region’s economic integration.
Speaking at the virtual 18th Asean-India Summit, Duterte said the Philippines welcomed the adoption of the Asean-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the Asean Outlook on the Indo- Pacific that aims to deepen the strategic partnership, particularly in public health, maritime security, digital economy, connectivity and science, technology and innovation as well as biodiversity conservation.
“Asean and India also stand to benefit from closer cooperation in disaster management, green recovery and smart cities. These are the vital areas of engagement in the context of climate change,” the President said.