President Biden, Excellencies,

Allow me to deliver the statement of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

The IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) complements our individual and collective efforts towards inclusive recovery.

The broad themes of the IPEF are generally aligned with the Philippines’ economic and development priorities.

 Advancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, and competitiveness are consistent with the Philippines’ interests and development objectives.

 We affirm the importance of promoting emerging areas in trade, technology and digital economy.

 The IPEF’s pillars on supply chain resiliency, clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure are consistent with the Joint Vision Statement for a 21st Century United States-Philippines Partnership.

The Vision of IPEF is also in line with the 2020 ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025.

 The Philippines looks forward to seeing greater participation from other countries particularly in the ASEAN region.

 We welcome the United States’ assurance of support for ASEAN Member States in pursuing IPEF initiatives.

 Today’s launch is only the beginning of this conversation.

 Let us then continue to collaborate and move together towards our shared goals for the region.

The Philippines congratulates the United States for successfully spearheading this initiative, and Japan for hosting this virtual launch.

Thank you. ♦

Date of Release: 26 May 2022