MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he and other world leaders would tackle the Russia-Ukraine conflict and developments in the South China Sea during the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit this week.

Marcos departed for Cambodia on Nov. 9 to attend his first ASEAN Summit as Philippine president.

“My participation will promote and protect Philippine interest in ASEAN… We will review existing and new areas of cooperation and exchange views on the regional and international issues,” he said in his pre-departure speech.

“We will emphasize regional cooperation on maritime security, climate change, food security, health cooperation and economy recovery amongst others,” he said.

“We will also address regional issues such as the pandemic, the situation in Myanmar, developments in the South China Sea and the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine among other important matters,” he added.

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Leaders from ASEAN dialogue partners such as Australia, Canada, China, Japan, India, Republic of Korean and the United States are also expected to attend, Marcos said.

“I have spoken often about the importance that I put to the partnerships that we make as we go forward and start to live the future of the new global economy,” he said.

“I think this is going to be a very, very good opportunity for us to forge new partnerships and to strengthen those that have already existed for very long time,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said Marcos would hold bilateral meetings with his Cambodian and South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

“We will promote the Philippines not only as an investment center, not only as a tourism center, but as a global partner for ASEAN member nations and for all our friends around the world who will be joining the ASEAN conference,” the President said.

“I’d just like to thank all our ASEAN partner members for the interest that they have shown in the new policies that we have established here in the Philippines since I took office,” he said, without giving more details on which policies he was referring to.

Marcos will return to Manila on Sunday evening and again depart on Nov. 16 to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok.

Vice President Sara Duterte will be the officer-in-charge of the Philippines while Marcos Jr. attends to his obligations overseas, Malacañang said.

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