PASAY CITY— The Philippines and Indonesia reaffirmed strong bilateral ties and charted new areas of cooperation during the convening of the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of the 7th Philippines-Indonesia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) via virtual format on 11-12 April 2022.
DFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro led the Philippine delegation, while the Indonesian side was spearheaded by Director General for Asia-Pacific and African Affairs Abdul Kadir Jailani of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The JCBC facilitated substantial discussions on areas of mutual concern such as political and security cooperation, border and cross-border issues, economic cooperation, socio-cultural and people-to-people-exchanges, and judicial and consular matters. Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues, including the ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific, the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar, and other geopolitical developments.
The two senior officials cited the maritime border delimitation agreement in 2014 as a highlight of the good neighborliness of the two archipelagos, and welcomed the preparatory work for talks on the delimitation of the two countries’ continental shelf.
Both sides agreed to negotiate a new plan of action that will lay out priorities and bilateral cooperation for the next five years.
“Truly, Philippines-Indonesia cooperation has come a long way, marked with great success, and has expanded to many new areas of collaboration,” Undersecretary Lazaro said, as she expressed her satisfaction that both sides were able to comprehensively discuss their progress in bilateral cooperation and future initiatives.
The JCBC is the primary dialogue mechanism between the Philippines and Indonesia to review accomplishments on mutual collaboration initiatives, exchange views on issues of mutual interest, and consider plans for enhancing cooperation. The Ministerial meeting of the 7th JCBC will be held on a mutually agreed schedule later this year.
Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs