Marcos, Anwar talk peace in South...

to this outstanding problem,” he said.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, which is believed to hold large reserves of oil and natural gas.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims in the South China Sea.

ASEAN failed anew to put up a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea with Beijing during its summit in Cambodia in November last year.

ASEAN and China have been negotiating for a binding COC in the past few years to manage tensions amid competing claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.

Economic ties

Meanwhile, the two countries also agreed to boost trade and investment exchanges.

The two leaders agreed to “reinvigorate trade and investment exchanges, with a special focus on the halal industry, agriculture and food security and the digital economy.”

”Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and I had a cordial and productive discussion on Philippines-Malaysia bilateral cooperation, reaffirming our two countries’ desire to revitalize relations as we traverse past the pandemic then through the years towards a new normal,” Marcos said.

Marcos said the two countries’ shared historic roots are deep, and the Philippines and Malaysia’s cultures enjoy natural affinity.

“As such, we spoke of further deepening our people-to-people ties through continued cultural exchanges and tourism,” Marcos