PM Luxon held a bilateral meeting with President of Philippines

The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines.

During today's meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to strengthen the Philippines-New Zealand relationship across defence, trade, people-to-people, and climate cooperation, and released a Joint Statement.

Prime Minister Luxon said a key outcome of the meeting was the agreement that New Zealand and the Philippines will upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership by 2026.

"We agreed to growing our economies through exports, with two-way trade set to grow by 50 per cent by 2030.

"A key focus of the meeting was defence cooperation, including establishing the legal architecture to allow our defence forces to do more together by the end of this year.

"Closer defence ties will enable New Zealand and the Philippines to continue to work closely in support of the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific."

Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr also discussed the growing Filipino population in New Zealand, initiating further dialogue on climate change challenges, and regional and global issues.

(With Inputs from New Zealand Government Press Release)