MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino leaves tonight for Spain for the first leg of his four-nation trip to Europe and later to the United States.
From Spain, the President will proceed to Brussels, Belgium, and then to Paris, France. He will be in Berlin, Germany later in the week.
Aquino’s visit to France will be the first for a Philippine head of state since 1994, the French embassy in Manila announced yesterday.
After his European trip, the President will fly to the United States where he will stay in New York and Boston. His US visit will last until Sept. 26.
Accompanying the President on his trip to Europe and the US are 10 Cabinet secretaries as well as representatives from Philippine business groups.
The French embassy said the President – on his arrival in Paris – will be welcomed with military honors at the Arc de Triomphe after which he will be ushered to the Elysée Palace for a bilateral meeting with French President François Hollande.
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The two heads of state will witness the signing of agreements on culture, education, transportation and communications, among others.
The two leaders will issue a joint communiqué before lunch to be hosted by Hollande.
Following the meeting with Hollande, Aquino will proceed to the Hotel Matignon later in the afternoon for bilateral talks with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
In the morning of Sept. 18 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Aquino will formally open the Philippines-France Business Council organized by the Mouvement des entreprises de France (MEDEF) International and the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry.
MEDEF International is a non-profit private-funded organization comprising over 4,000 French companies operating all over the world. A delegation from MEDEF International was in Manila last April for a business forum organized by the French embassy in the Philippines and the Philippine embassy in France.
Aquino will then proceed to the Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI), a Paris-based think tank, to deliver a policy speech.
“Today, we are witnessing an exciting phase in bilateral relations between France and the Philippines,” said French Ambassador Gilles Garachon on Aquino’s visit to France.
“We are riding a momentum of increased cooperation between our two countries, which started when then-Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault visited the Philippines in 2012,” he said.
The former prime minister was the first French head of government to make an official visit to the Philippines since diplomatic relations with France were formalized.
“President Aquino’s trip to France, as well as to the other European countries and to the European Union, shows the existing partnership between our governments, as well as the continuing friendship between our peoples,” Garachon added.