Marcos off to Malaysia for state visit

A day after his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. left for Malaysia on Tuesday for a two-day state visit.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier said Marcos' trip is expected to enhance bilateral trade and investments between Manila and Kuala Lumpur.

During the visit, Marcos will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to identify new areas of synergy and cooperation between the two countries.

"This state visit to Malaysia aims to identify new areas of synergies that can propel our partnership and serve as a roadmap for our respective agencies to work on for the mutual benefit of both our countries and the peoples of the new century," said Marcos in his pre-departure speech.

"In order to assist our nation’s trajectory of economic growth and to meet our economic target of 6.4 percent year-on-year GDP growth this year, my visit will focus on the renewed partnership in the fields of agriculture, food security, digital economy, tourism, people to people exchanges as well as explore new avenues for cooperation particularly in areas of the halal industry and Islamic banking," added Marcos. 

According to DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza, the Maharlika Investment Fund is likely to be tackled during Marcos' meeting with Malaysian business leaders.

The President is scheduled to visit the Filipino community in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

Vice President Sara Duterte has been assigned as the country's caretaker while Marcos is in Malaysia.  —VAL, GMA Integrated News