President Michelle Bachelet was greeted with state honors on Monday as she began a state visit aimed at boosting economic ties across the Pacific Ocean and marking its almost 70-year diplomatic relation with the Philippines.
Bachelet, who will also be attending next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, was officially received Monday morning at Malacañang Palace where she also signed two agreements on expanding bilateral trade and cooperating on disaster risk reduction and management.
The trade agreement hopes to build on the ongoing partnership between the Philippines’ Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and Canadian-based Alterra Power Corp. that is helping develop geothermal energy sources in Chile.
Aquino said exploration in geothermal energy can benefit of the two countries by contributing to the energy requirements and enhancing the common body of expertise the countries share.