Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario. 蜜桃工作室 FILE PHOTO
Burma鈥檚 (Myanmar) foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, will make an official visit to the Philippines on June 14 and 15 as head of his country鈥檚 delegation to the second meeting of the Manila-Yangon Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
In a statement, the DFA said Wunna鈥檚 visit 鈥渇ollows the historic trip made by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Myanmar in February, which marked a new page in Philippine and Myanmar relations following the prodemocracy reforms undertaken by the latter鈥檚 government.鈥�
The foreign office noted the JCBC was a 鈥減olitical mechanism for the two countries to discuss areas of mutual interest, such as political cooperation, trade and investments, tourism, education, human rights, agriculture and forestry, culture and information, and law enforcement.鈥�
The Philippines and Burma, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), established diplomatic relations in 1956.
During his trip to Burma, Del Rosario met with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who was then preparing to run for parliament. She won the elections in April and now represents the constituency of Kawmhu.
Del Rosario said Suu Kyi and he 鈥渉eld a brief exchange of views鈥� about the Burmese elections, as well as political and socioeconomic reforms and the rule of law in her country.
鈥淲e also declared our support for the lifting of sanctions against Myanmar and offered our proposal to develop Philippine-Myanmar parliamentary friendship,鈥� Del Rosario had told the Inquirer.
He described his trip to the country鈥檚 capital as 鈥渟ignificant,鈥� noting that it was 鈥渢aking place when Myanmar is at its crossroads of history.鈥�
On February 8, Del Rosario called on President Thein Sein and held discussions with Foreign Minister Wunna.
The secretary congratulated his hosts for the 鈥減olitical, economic and social reforms they have undertaken.鈥�
For his part, Thein Sein urged the Philippine business community to 鈥渋nvest in various sectors of the Myanmar economy, such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture, forestry, and in the development of sea ports and other infrastructure.鈥�
Originally posted: 11:37 am | Monday, June 11th, 2012