MANILA — The Philippines and Japan vowed to strengthen their partnership on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN-Plus Three Summit, Malacañang said Saturday.

"Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN. And I look forward to advancing the cooperation between ASEAN and Japan," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The Office of the Press Secretary, in a statement, said Marcos also told Kishida that "as long as they are together, they can achieve anything."

Kishida looks forward to receiving Marcos in Japan but no date has been set for the planned state visit, according to the OPS.

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"All of the concepts that we first started to discuss when we were in New York, we are continuing to develop in our government so that when the time comes this concept that you have introduced to us on economic stability, is something… that ASEAN, the Philippines --- we will continue to develop more of these ideas, and these concepts," Marcos said.

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Earlier this month, Marcos met in Malacañang with Kishida's special advisor, Mori Masafumi.

In the meeting, Marcos "expressed optimism for the continued collaboration between the Philippines and Japan on bilateral goals for enhancing defense and security, as well as building climate-resilient infrastructure."

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Japan has partnered with the Philippines in various fields such as COVID-19 response, infrastructure development, and disaster management, the OPS said.

In the aftermath of severe tropical storm Paeng, Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa said Tokyo was ready to provide assistance to the Philippines.

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