The ongoing Russia-Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) summit in Sochi shows that Russia is an important dialogue partner for ASEAN and highlights the need to strengthen cooperation between the partners, Mario Montejo said.
"The Commemorative Summit has affirmed that Russia is an important dialogue partner for ASEAN. The Summit showed that there is a strong political commitment for us to broaden and deepen cooperation, and that is reflected in the Sochi Declaration and the new ASEAN-Russia Plan of Action," Montejo said on the sidelines of the event.
The secretary said that the dialogue partners need to do more in cultivating business partnerships, pointing that the Philippines hopes to organize more business summits, two-way business missions and investor briefings.
"ASEAN and Russia are clearly good friends but moving forward we need to improve awareness-raising about our respective complementarities," Montejo stressed.
The Secretary noted that Russia has done remarkably well in improving the county's air and railway connectivity.
According to Montejo, the Philippines is currently developing a locally-designed elevated railway to improve connectivity and mass transportation.
"Russia, having an extensive railway network and engineering expertise, could help the Philippines and ASEAN to improve connectivity in Southeast Asia," he said.
