MANILA, Philippines- Kapwa kinokonsidera ng Pilipinas at Iran na simulan ang ‘high-level contacts’ para pag-usapan ang iba’t ibang larangan ng pagtutulungan gaya ng agrikultura, kalakalan at pamumuhunan, teknolohiya, turismo at people-to-people exchanges.
Sa pagtanggap kay Yousef Esmaeilzadeh, bagong resident ambassador to the Philippines ng Iran, sinabi ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., na ang kanyang bansa ay maraming matututunan mula sa kanyang mga kaalyado, kaibigan at katuwang sa buong mundo at ang ‘partnership’ ay magiging kapaki-pakinabang kapwa sa Pilipinas at sa Iran.
“The Philippines now is continuing to foster new partnerships between what we have come to call non-traditional partners. It is a lesson that we have learned from the pandemic when the time came when trade or all the exchanges had to stop for reasons of health and we realize that we have to build up the agricultural economy so that we can support at least as a foundation for the rest of the development of our economy,” ang sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos kay Ambassador Esmaeilzadeh.
Nag-courtesy call kasi si Esmaeilzadeh kay Pangulong Marcos sa Palasyo ng Malakanyang.
“We, in the Philippines believe, I sincerely believe that the transformation of our economies and the stability of our transformation into the new economies are going to be made stable by partnerships and agreements with as many partners as possible and, considering the long-standing relationship that Iran and the Philippines has, I think that this is not something new, but I think it is something that we can look into and explore,” ang winika pa rin ni Pangulong Marcos sa Iranian envoy.
“The Philippines’ number one priority right now is agriculture, as it tries to adjust to the agricultural terrain around the world with all the volatility in the global food supply system,” ayon sa Pangulo.
“The existing memoranda of understanding (MOUs) agreed by the two countries could serve as a good basis for all their future collaborations in many areas,” dagdag niya.
Kabilang sa sinisilip talakayin ang nano-technology programs, biomedical devices, science and technology, tourism, at people-to-people exchanges.
“So, there is a lot of green space for us to begin our work and I hope that with your assumption of the duty as the ambassador that we will be able to explore many of these possibilities. And, hopefully, we will come to some specific and constructive arrangements for our two countries. I look forward to those discussions, Mr. Ambassador,” ayon sa Pangulo.
Sinabi naman ni Esmaeilzadeh, ang Iran ay nakatuon sa Asya lalo na sa ASEAN habang ang ekonomiya nito ay umuunlad.
“So, in that, we have a good relation with some other members of the ASEAN. So, we’d like to increase trade and economic relations between Iran and the Philippines. In that case, we can do several economic subject,” aniya pa rin.
Sa aspeto naman ng agrikultura, inihayag ni Esmaeilzadeh ang posibilidad na mag-organisa ng barter, kung saan magpapadala ito ng fertilizer sa Pilipinas at aangkat ito ng tropical fruits.
Maaari namang magtulungan ang dalawang bansa sa siyensiya at maritime security kung saan kilalang mahusay ang Iran.
Maaari na ring simulan ng dalawang bansa ang people-to-people exchanges sakop ang iba’t ibang larangan.
“So, this is our idea. We can do well to develop our relationship. So, as you know, we are [celebrating] our 60th anniversary in January next year. If possible, we can do very well to exchange high-level delegation. More than 20 years, near 30 years, we don’t have high-level delegation,” ayon kay Esmaeilzadeh. Kris Jose
