Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will travel to Washington, D.C. on April 10-12 for the 3rd Philippines-United States 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

Manalo, together with Department of National Defense Senior Undersecretary and OIC Carlito Galvez, will lead the Philippine delegation to this policy-level dialogue aimed at reaffirming our shared commitment to advance common priorities as treaty allies.

Established in 2012, the 2+2 builds on the work of the annual Bilateral Strategic Dialogue (BSD).

At the 2+2, Manalo will discuss important global prosperity issues, in particular those that are aligned with the Philippines’ economic interests such as energy security, strategic trade and investment cooperation, critical and emerging technologies and infrastructure, and supply chains.

It will also be an important opportunity to substantively progress cooperation in key areas across the breadth of the relationship, including identifying concrete initiatives for promoting regional security, achieving mutual economic prosperity, modernizing the alliance, and countering terrorism and other transnational crimes.

This third iteration of the 2+2 is significant as it comes after a seven-year hiatus since the second Ministerial Dialogue was held in 2016. The US side will be led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III.

While in Washington, D.C., Manalo will also be a keynote speaker at the CSIS ASEAN Leadership Forum, where he will share his insights about a new era in the alliance in the context of the Philippines’ pursuit of its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, and its efforts to advance a more peaceful and prosperous region. DFA