Philippine president to visit Brunei to advance ties

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to travel to Brunei on Sunday as part of his introductory visit since being elected last June.

Philippines Ambassador Meynardo LB Montealegre told local media that Duterte is expected to touch down in Brunei in the afternoon and will end his visit the next day.

He will be accompanied by his official delegation, senior government officials and officials from other Philippine government agencies.

"He will also meet with His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to discuss general bilateral relations and to convey his sincere appreciation to Brunei Darussalam for taking care of the 23,000-strong overseas Filipinos currently residing in the country," said Montealegre.

As part of his visit, Duterte is also scheduled to have a meeting with the Filipino community.

"Given that this is the first official foreign trip of the president, his visit to Brunei will give him the opportunity of personally meeting the members of the Filipino Community and sharing with them some development in the Philippines," said the ambassador.

Brunei is going to be "the first foreign country visited by the newly-elected president," he added.

Duterte will then depart to Laos to attend the ASEAN summits and related summits on Sept. 6-8 before heading to Jakarta.

Source : XINHUA