MANILA — The Czech Republic is considering delivering air assets for the Philippine Coast Guard and studying a rearmament deal for the Philippine Army, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said before leaving the country after a 3-day state visit.
“At the meeting with the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., I supported joint projects in the area of the defense industry,” Fiala said in a statement.
“These are, for example, possible deliveries of aircraft for the Philippine Coast Guard or the project of Česká zbrojovka for the comprehensive rearmament of the local army,” he said.
Fiala, on a 10-day tour of Asia, did not deliver a speech before his departure at the Villamor Airbase, but Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Jana Sediva said that the European leader’s visit in Manila was “very successful.”
“The potential cooperation in our companies especially in industry, military, agriculture was discussed and we hope that it will be deepened,” she told reporters in a chance interview.
“We share mutual experience with the latest development and also the current situation about the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and also China and the situation here in the Asia-Pacific region,” she said.
Three memoranda were signed during Fiala’s visit, Sediva said.
“One memorandum was signed between our Chamber of Commerce and Filipino Chamber of Commerce,” she said.
“Two other remaining memorandums are related to cooperation between companies related to smart city and this kind of cooperation,” she added.
The Czech Prime Minister said that the signed agreements “will be reflected in jobs, but mainly in investments in research and development.”
“The Czech Republic is also ready to help with the modernization of local agriculture and food industry, which is another area of cooperation in which the Philippine side is most interested,” Fiala said.
“I also emphasized the interest of Czech companies in participating in the development of local energy infrastructure, and we offer cooperation in civil aviation,” he said.
The Czech Republic is the Philippines’ 8th largest trading partner among European Union member countries, with bilateral trade amounting to $450 million in 2019, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Philippine imports to the Czech Republic are pegged at $340.44 million, while imports from the European nation are at $114.31 million, data showed.
(ABS-CBN)