(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to speak about the Japan-Philippines Defense Ministerial Meeting. Today, from PM 12:05 for approximately 55 minutes, I held the Japan-Philippines Defense Ministerial Meeting with the Philippine Secretary of National Defense Teodoro. During the meeting, we welcomed the signing of the Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement, symbolizing the deepening of defense cooperation and exchanges between Japan and the Philippines in recent years, in the presence of President Marcos. With regard to bilateral cooperation, we welcomed the recent developments of defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, such as the delivery of the air surveillance radar. At the same time, we concurred on continuing to advance defense cooperation and exchanges in various fields between the two countries. The Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces aim to further deepen bilateral cooperation, and multilateral defense cooperation including Japan-Philippines.