President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill witnessed the signing of Joint Declaration on Agriculture Cooperation in a ceremony in Malacanang.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol and PNG Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Benny Allan inked the joint declaration.

Under the agreement, the two countries are committed to expand and strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the field of agriculture and agro-industries, particularly in areas such as rice grains and industrial crops production; aquaculture and inland fish farming; livestock breeding and improvement; and agri-business development.

Meanwhile, Duterte, in a joint statement, said that during his bilateral talks with the visiting leader, they "extensively discussed defense and security cooperation, trade and investment relations, agriculture cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges."

The President also said he looks forward to working closely with O’Neill and actively engaging him in both bilateral and regional matters such as ASEAN Region Forum.

He also congratulated his PNG counterpart and expressed his full support for the Papua New Guinea’s APEC chairmanship this year.

For his part, O'Neil hailed the signed communiqué, saying this will pave way to ensure food security for both Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

"We have agreed also to extend the cooperation in technical and development cooperation between our two countries where we want to see the technical skills and capacity of Filipinos who continue to build the economy to a very vibrant economy in the region so that they can also continue to train our people in our country," he said.

He also underscored the need to continue to extend the people-to-people relationship of the two countries. Celerina Monte/DMS