New Zealand contributes to improving the lives of indigenous women and girls in the Philippines

New Zealand will contribute to an initiative to improve the lives of indigenous women and girls on the Philippines' second-largest island.

Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo Jr. (right) welcomes his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters in Manila on June 10. (Source: RNZ)

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters stressed that during a visit to Manila on June 10, which he described as part of efforts to build stronger ties between the two countries.

In addition to establishing a new development initiative (worth $8.6 million over five years) to improve the lives of indigenous women and girls in Mindanao – the Philippines’ second largest island, Mr. Winston Peters announced the signing of a joint logistics support agreement between the New Zealand Defence Force and the Philippine Department of National Defense .

In addition, the South Pacific island nation will contribute US$245,000 to the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity.

During his visit to Manila, the New Zealand foreign minister met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his counterpart Enrique Manalo, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Senate President Francis Escudero.

New Zealand and the Philippines will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2026. The two sides have discussed strategies to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive partnership by then and aim to increase two-way trade by 50% by 2030.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/new-zealand-gop-phan-cai-thien-cuoc-song-cua-phu-nu-va-tre-em-gai-ban-dia-o-philippines-274645.html