Philippine senators hold official visit to France
Philippine senators went on an official visit to France from October 24 to 26, 2022 to meet with their French counterparts, government agencies, and the private sector to discuss ways to enhance French-Philippine bilateral relations. The visit comes as the two countries celebrate their 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor Ejercito, Senator Manuel Lapid, Senator Nancy Binay, Senator Grace Poe, and Senator Christopher Lawrence Go formed the Philippine Senate delegation.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri stressed that during the exchanges the delegation had with French parliament members and economic actors, the Philippines wished to strengthen bilateral economic exchanges and to scale up partnerships with France and the European Union, in particular in the sectors of energy, agriculture and defense. He noted that France was the first destination chosen by the Philippine Senate since its election in May.
Senator Legarda, founder and president of the Philippines-France Parliamentary Friendship Association, noted that matters relating to the environment and the blue economy were among the topics discussed during their meetings.
Exchanges with the French Parliament
The senators met with French Senate President Gérard Larcher, Senator Daniel Gremillet, who specializes in energy, and the France-Southeast Asia Parliamentary Friendship Group chaired by Senator Mathieu Darnaud, and co-chaired by Senator Gisèle Jourda who follows the Philippines specifically.
Mathieu Darnaud recalled that France is particularly attentive to the security of the Indo-Pacific zone because of the presence of our overseas territories in this region. He assured Philippine senators of France’s support, to defend alongside the Philippines the principles of a free and open maritime space in compliance with the rules of international law."
"Mrs Gisèle Jourda, Deputy President for the Philippines, welcomed the dynamics of this visit, in the context of the 75th anniversary of our bilateral relationship, but also in the context of a changing world with the clear awareness that, to secure our supplies, to guarantee our energy and food autonomy in particular, to deal with a pandemic, we can no longer be dependent on one or two privileged partners but diversify our partnerships."
The French Senate welcomed their Philippine counterparts during an open session.
The delegation held a meeting with Mr. Guillaume Kasbarian, chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee, one of the standing committees of the French National Assembly. Former Agriculture Minister Stéphane Travert also took part in the meeting, during which they discussed cooperations to develop agrotourism and agricultural secondary education.
Visits of two industrial sites and economic meetings
The Philippine senators visited the shipyard of French industrial firm Naval Group in Cherbourg and the Flamanville EPR nuclear power plant, which houses two pressurized water reactors. They also held a meeting with the French Nuclear Safety Authority, and representatives of the Atomic Energy Commission, a research organization. During these two meetings, the NUWARD project, EDF’s small modular reactor, was presented, which was a topic of great interest for the senators.
The Philippine senators also held meetings with French companies that have presence or are interested in investing in the Philippines. They discussed the possibility of acquiring Airbus helicopters, as well as Scorpene submarines from Naval Group.