The Philippines and Egypt reaffirmed their commitment to exploring defense cooperation and discussed the current direction of their bilateral defense relations.
The Department of National Defense (DND) announced that Senior Undersecretary Irineo Espino met with Ambassador of Egypt to the Philippines Nader Nabil Zaki on May 19.
Both officials noted the increasing engagements between their countries and anticipated deepening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in defense and security as they observed the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Philippine-Egyptian diplomatic relations in 2026.
The two officials likewise looked ahead to the conclusion of the proposed Philippines-Egypt Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation, which will serve as a framework to explore possible areas of convergence between the two countries, including people-to-people exchanges and training opportunities.
The Egyptian Ambassador also expressed openness to the potential collaboration in training for Imams under the Chaplain Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Moreover, Egypt signified interest in exploring stronger engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a sectoral dialogue partner.
