Mr. Zakaria Nasir, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. and Madam Junainah Che Ali hosted a reception to celebrate the Malaysia’s 55th National Day on 31st August 2012 at the Mandarin Ballroom, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City. The Hon. Erlinda Basilio, Undersecretary for Policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, Apostolic Nuncio and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps were the guests of honour at the reception. Other prominent guests at the event included senators, congressmen, senior Philippine government and military officials, Ambassadors, Honorary Consuls, members of the diplomatic corps, businessmen, and representatives from non-governmental organisations, academia and Malaysian citizens in the Philippines. About 300 guests attended the event.
Mr. Zakaria Nasir, CDA a.i. in his remarks highlighted the theme chosen for Malaysia’s National Day which is “55th Merdeka, Promises Fulfilled”. The CDA a.i. also underscored the good state of relations between Malaysia and the Philippines, underlining the range of bilateral cooperation both countries have enjoyed as reflected in the increasing number of high level exchanges of visits between both countries. The good state of relations was also demonstrated with favourable developments between both countries in various fields such as trade, investment and tourism.
Undersecretary Basilio, in her reply speech congratulated Malaysia on the celebration of its 55th National Day Anniversary. The Undersecretary acknowledged the historical and cultural ties, and stressed that Malaysia and the Philippines were important partners with significant levels of cooperation in various fields such as trade and tourism. The Undersecretary acknowledged the success of Malaysia’s past and current development and economic policies such as the NEP, which had contributed significantly to Malaysia’s economic development. She also acknowledged the success of the Malaysian government’s policies in fostering and maintaining ethnic harmony.
The Undersecretary drew upon Malaysia’s and the Philippines’ shared role in the formative early years of ASEAN; and also commended Malaysia for being an active player in ASEAN. She also expressed appreciation to Malaysia for its role in helping to mediate in the GPH-MILF Peace Talks, as well as for Malaysia’s role in leading the IMT in the Southern Philippines.