The Philippines, United States and Japan convened a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday at the sidelines of the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The three countries' foreign ministers discussed strengthening security cooperation and reaffirmed commitment to safeguarding regional peace, stability and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,

Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro ''expressed appreciation for the United States and Japan's enduring support for the Philippines' position in the South China Sea and the United States' steadfast commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty,'' a statement by the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the meeting as "excellent".

"We have a great relationship with Japan and the Philippines, and work very closely with them on the economic corridor on maritime security, and territorial integrity to build upon that partnership," Rubio said.

Lazaro also discussed advancing the Luzon corridor with the US for major infrastructure and other key economic projects with support from Japan and other like-minded states during the talks.

"In order for us to be politically strong, we have to be economically strong.” she said.

The three foreign ministers vowed "deeper cooperation" on cybersecurity capacity building and workforce development "to build safer, more secure, and more resilient cyberinfrastructure and systems." DMS