Maintaining the stability of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was among the highlights of the talks of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. with Indonesian President Joko Widodo last Monday.

In a joint press conference with Widodo at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Jakarta Indonesia, Marcos said he and his Indonesian counterpart had a "fruitful discussion" on how to address common concerns in ASEAN.

"We spoke about the difficulties that we as members of ASEAN face after the pandemic and this is why trade is such an important part of what we spoke and what we have agreed upon in today’s discussions," Marcos said.

"We also spoke at length about the role that we believe ASEAN should play, while we face the difficulties in this very volatile time, in geopolitics not only in our region but also in the rest of the world," Marcos said.

Marcos said he wants to expand bilateral relations with Indonesia in investments, defense and culture.

"The President (Widodo) and I have agreed to organize task forces already to meet and discuss even at the technical level, no longer at the political or the diplomatic level, but at the technical level so as to be able to take a full advantage of opportunities that we feel that are available to us and that we will need to exploit to succeed in the near future," Marcos said.

Marcos said he chose Indonesia to become the first country for his state visits due to the close affinity with the Philippines.

He thanked Widodo for hosting his trip in Indonesia.

Among the Philippines-Indonesia bilateral agreements which were signed were a plan of action for 2022 to 2027, cultural cooperation, cooperative activities in the field of defense and security, promotion of the creative economy.

Marcos will end his trip in Indonesia on Sept. 6 before proceeding to Singapore for another state visit. DMS