Marcos, Macron meeting focused on energy, agriculture, defense

BANGKOK, Thailand — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday said he had a “very extensive and quite productive” bilateral meeting with his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

According to the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), Marcos said the discussions between the two leaders focused on agriculture, energy, and defense.

“I’m very confident that it will be a strong partnership simply because they have… up to 67% of their power production is from nuclear energy so they are very, very used to it,” Marcos was quoted as saying.

“PBBM said he engaged Macron to talk about energy because France is a leading proponent of nuclear energy and its experience is quite extensive, which the Philippines could rely on if it goes ahead with a partnership on nuclear energy,” the OPS said in a media release.

This comes as the Philippines targets to improve its power mix, with renewable energy accounting for 30% by 2030, and 50% by 2040.

The leaders were also reported to have tackled defense issues, as Marcos cited the heightened involvement of countries in global issues given the increased interconnectivity.

“So there are increased involvement in exercises, there are increased presence in the Asia Pacific region and all of that,” Marcos said.

“So these are areas that… the three basic areas that considered that partnerships could be explored. He was also kind enough to invite me to visit France when the time comes,” he added.

The OPS said Marcos reciprocated the French leader’s invitation.

No other details regarding the meeting were released to the media.

The bilateral meeting was held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok on Friday afternoon, following Marcos’ meeting with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the same venue.

During the meeting, The Crown Prince told Marcos the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will earmark some 2 billion riyals for the unpaid salaries of some 10,000 overseas Filipinos employed by construction companies that went bankrupt.

Marcos also earlier had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which the executive said was more of getting to know each other as they talked “a bit” about regional issues.

In the meeting, Xi was reported to have said that the two parties should stick to “friendly consultations” when dealing with issues involving the South China Sea.

Marcos is also set to have separate meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Thailand on Saturday, November 19, 2022. He is also set to have a business call with the Siam Cement Group and meet with the Filipino community in Bangkok before he flies back to Manila. —LDF/KG, GMA Integrated News