Inaugural Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting

We will host the inaugural Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) in Sydney, on 11-12 August. The PAMM will be attended by our Philippine counterparts, the Hon Alberto Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the Hon Peter Favila, Secretary of Trade and Industry.

The establishment of the PAMM is recognition by both countries of the strength and breadth of existing bilateral relations, and represents a significant development in the relationship. The meeting provides an excellent opportunity to review the state of the bilateral relationship, and to develop new initiatives to take our relationship forward into new fields of endeavour.

The focus of our discussions on foreign and security issues will be the joint efforts of Australia and the Philippines to combat the terrorist threat in the region. We will share our assessments and experiences, and review progress on Australia's $10 million counter-terrorism assistance package to the Philippines. We will also discuss a number of new cooperative initiatives.

On the bilateral economic, trade and commercial relationship, we will examine ways to broaden and diversify our mutual interests. The opening-up of the Philippines mining sector, for example, offers good prospects for Australian mining operations. These issues will be discussed directly with key business representatives during a Business Dialogue.

We will also take the opportunity to discuss regional and multilateral trade issues, including the ASEAN-ANZ Free Trade Agreement, APEC and the WTO Doha Round.

The PAMM will commence on the evening of 11 August and conclude on 12 August. At the conclusion of the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed to formally establish the PAMM as a regular Ministerial forum.

Contacts: Chris Kenny (Mr Downer's office) 0419 206 890, Richard Forbes (Mr Vaile's office) 02 6277 7420 or Chelsey Martin (Departmental) 02 6261 1555