Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor
Khovaev announced that their consular office here is in full swing for the
visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to their country next month.
“There are a lot of things to do. We need to
prepare a lot of package of documents on bilateral agreements for signing
during the visit,” said Khovaev in a press conference in Cebu City last week.
The Russian ambassador said the visit will be
“a milestone” for the bilateral relations of both countries, especially that it
is the first time Duterte and Russian Vladimir Putin will sit down to discuss
things beneficial for both countries.
He said at the end of this month, the
Russia-Philippines Economic Cooperation Commission will convene for a session
in Manila. The first joint commission established since the two countries
signed the bilateral ties 40 years ago.
The ambassador said the commission will
tackle trade and investment proposals which will boost economic activities for
both countries.
Also, he said the two countries, during the
visit, will discuss security and defense, culture, education, tourism, use of
labor force, among others.
He said the Russian people “respect Pres.
Duterte. He is quite popular.”
“We perceive Pres. Duterte as a friend of
Russia,” he added.
He said Russia and the Philippines had signed
the bilateral agreement in 1976, but it has not been active since. It was only
when Duterte won the presidential election last year when talks of renewing the
ties start to come alive.
“We have a unique chance to substantially
enhance the relationship between Russia and the Philippines. We had the chance
after the victory of Rodrigo Duterte last elections,” he said.
“We have established the diplomatic relations
in 1976. But unfortunately, since that time our relations have never been
active. It is a pity. Although our relations have been positive because we have
no disputes, we have never had conflict, no political contradiction,” he
continued.
There may be no conflict between the two
countries, but all those 40 years there was also no close relationship between them, he said.
He said Russia is, however, positive that this time, both countries can build a
“strong partnership, not only for the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, but
far beyond that for many, many generations.”
He said the Russians have a long-term
interest in the Philippines, especially that they need new partners in the Asia
Pacific region, which they need “to successfully develop our Far-Eastern and
Syberian regions.”
“Russia should be fully involved integrated
in multi-lateral trade and economic processes in the Asia Pacific region, and
we suspect we need new partners, and we believe the Philippines is a big player
in the Asia Pacific and can and should be a new partner of Russia. And we
Russians would like to be reliable partner, a close friend for the Philippines.
At the same time, we see the objective need for your country to diversity your
circle of friends. Both of us need more partners,” he added.
Diversification means keeping old partners
and friends and getting new ones, he explained.
He said with the old ties getting warm again,
it is time for Russians to discover the Philippines, and for Filipinos to
discover Russia. He said 60 million Russians travel all over the world each
year and only about 28,000 of them go to the Philippines (last year’s record).
He said with the right tourism marketing, that number could easily increase
especially that Russians are known to love destinations found in the Philippines.
He said the problem why Russians don’t go to
the Philippines and vice versa is that there is low awareness about both
countries. He said most Filipinos, for example, perceive Russia through
Hollywood-style movies, where they are portrayed as bad people.
“These movies have nothing to do with the
real Russians,” he said.
“We Russians and Filipinos have a lot in common.
The Russians are also friendly and hospitable, only we don’t smile that often
like you do,” he joked.
Khovaev said he is, however, hopeful that
after Duterte’s visit things will change for the better for both Russia and the
Philippines.
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