JUNE 2, 2006 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Philippines.

For the first time, the existence of the archipelago, which later became known as the Philippines, in Russia became known from the reports of the ambassador of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III at the court of the Pope in about 1525 - 1530, almost at the same time as in other European capitals. But the Philippines came to the attention of Russian foreign policy much later - from the second half of the XVIII century, mainly in the context of the struggle for this archipelago between Spain, England, France, and later also the United States and Japan.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia developed plans to establish direct trade links between Russian ports in the Pacific and the Philippines in order to supply food to Russian possessions in North America and the Far East. In these interests, in 1820-1826, the Russian Consulate General worked in Manila, which became the first diplomatic mission of our country in Southeast Asia. Throughout the 19th century, the Philippines was visited many times by Russian navigators, among them such famous ones as V. Golovin, O. Kotzebue, F. Litke, K. Posiet. The writer I. Goncharov also visited here, and the outstanding Russian scientist N. Miklukho-Maklay conducted his anthropological research on the island of Luzon.

Andrey Alekseyevich Tatarinov-Deputy Director of the Department of ASEAN Countries and Pan-Asian Issues of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Special Representative of the Minister for ASEAN Member Countries and South Pacific States.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry closely followed the outbreak of the national liberation Revolution in the Philippines in 1896, the formation of the independent Philippine Republic in 1898, and the subsequent Philippine-American War. Broad circles of the Philippine national movement, in turn, also showed interest in the events in Russia at the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century, the internal and foreign policy of the USSR.

Since the end of the 20s of the last century, Philippine studies as a special branch of Oriental studies has been born in our country. The beginning of this direction was laid by the well-known works of a prominent Russian scientist, Academician A. A. Guber, the founder of the study of the history of the Philippines and the entire Southeast Asia. And in the 1950s, systematic, in-depth studies of the history, economy, language and literature of the Philippines were already taking place, which are conducted at the largest scientific center - the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences.

The victory of the anti-Hitler coalition during World War II paved the way for the declaration of independence of the Philippines in 1946. However, any noticeable changes in the direction of establishing contacts with our country were outlined only when the government of President F. Marcos came to power in 1966. In 1967, the first Philippine parliamentary delegation visited Moscow. State and political figures of the Philippines, representatives of business and cultural circles are beginning to visit our country. In turn, various Soviet delegations, public figures, and art masters are traveling to the Philippines for the first time. Since the early 1970s, trade contacts have been established, a mixed shipping company is being created, friendship societies are being established in both capitals, representative offices of the Pravda and TASS newspapers are being opened in Manila, and cultural and scientific ties are expanding.

The official visit of Philippine President F. Marcos to Moscow, which ended with the signing of the communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations and a trade agreement on June 2, 1976, marked the beginning of a new stage in bilateral relations. Since that time, cooperation between our countries has been further developed. Contacts were made at a high political level. Moscow was repeatedly visited as a special representative of the president by his wife Imelda Marcos, and such a form as an exchange was also used

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Inter-parliamentary relations were maintained through messages between the top leaders of the two countries. Political consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began, the practice of which was consolidated by the signing of the relevant protocol in Manila in 1988. Major events in bilateral relations in those years were the official visits of the Foreign Ministers of the USSR and the Philippines, respectively, in 1988 to Manila and in 1989 to Moscow. The parties successfully interacted within the framework of the UN and other international organizations and forums.

Cultural exchange was very active. Twinning and cooperation relations were established between the cities of Moscow and Manila, as well as Kislovodsk and Baguio. Contacts were made through trade unions, youth and other public organizations. Correspondents of the newspaper Izvestia and APN were additionally accredited in Manila. In 1988, the Philippines was first visited by a film crew of Gosteleradio.

Manila recognized the Russian Federation as a successor state of the USSR on December 26, 1991, and declared recognition of all former Soviet republics. Unfortunately, the internal difficulties of the formation of a new democratic Russia in the early 1990s, as in many other countries of the world, could not ignore the development of our relations with the Philippines, which entered a period of stagnation.

A notable event in terms of reviving the bilateral political dialogue was the official visit to Moscow in 1997 by the President of the Philippines, Fr. In the course of which a joint Russian-Philippine Declaration was signed. The subsequent visits of Russian foreign ministers to Manila and inter-parliamentary exchanges gave a new impetus to our relations.

In November 2004, in Santiago and in November 2005, in Busan, on the sidelines of the APEC summits, short working meetings were held between the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the President of the Philippines, G. Arroyo. The Russian President was invited to pay an official visit to Manila. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also has a similar invitation.

In the context of Russian policy in the Asia-Pacific region (APR), the Philippine direction is considered as important and promising. Therefore, Moscow is interested in

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Continue regular bilateral political dialogue, strengthen and diversify mutually beneficial cooperation with the Philippines in trade, economic, energy and investment spheres. We consider it useful to expand inter-parliamentary ties, restore and develop contacts in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, aviation, military-technical cooperation, sports and tourism.

It is no coincidence that Russia sees the Philippines as a partner in international and regional affairs. Bilateral relations are based on the similarity or consonance of approaches to key issues of our time, such as ensuring security in the Asia-Pacific region, forming a more just and democratic system of international relations, combating international terrorism, cross-border crime and drug trafficking.

We look forward to further productive cooperation with the Philippines in terms of deepening Russia's relations with ASEAN, cooperation within the framework of the ASEAN Regional Security Forum (ARF) and APEC. We are grateful to Manila for its consistent policy of bringing the dialogue between Russia and the Association to the highest level, which contributed to the successful holding of the first Russia - ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur in December 2005. We hope that this year's transfer of the functions of Chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee and Coordinator of the Russia-Association Dialogue Partnership to the Philippines will contribute to enhancing Russian-ASEAN cooperation in accordance with the Joint Declaration of the Head of State of the Russian Federation and Heads of State and Government of ASEAN Member States on a Developed and Comprehensive Partnership, Comprehensive Action Program for the Development of Cooperation between the Russian Federation and ASEAN for 2005-2015. We are also grateful to our Philippine partners for supporting Russia's bid for full participation in the East Asian summits.

We note good contacts between our foreign ministries. We appreciate their trusting nature, which allows us to thoroughly discuss global and regional issues of interest to both sides, and to provide mutual support in promoting candidates from Russia and the Philippines to various posts in international organizations. Confirmation of all this

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Philippine Foreign Minister A. Romulo paid a working visit to Russia in October 2005. In order to maintain the momentum of the political dialogue, we consider it useful to continue the practice of regular Russian-Philippine consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers.

The improvement of the contractual and legal basis of relations should contribute to the intensification of bilateral relations and contacts. To this end, we consider it necessary to step up efforts to finalize a number of important documents and reach their signing in the near future. We are talking about intergovernmental agreements on the conditions of mutual travel of holders of diplomatic and service passports, on cooperation in the fight against crime, especially in its organized forms, on interdepartmental protocols on cooperation in the fields of culture and sports. We plan to work together with our Philippine partners in the same way in the fields of education, science and technology.

Tourism is a very promising area of cooperation between Russia and the Philippines. We hope that the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation between the two countries in this area signed during the visit of the Philippine Minister of Tourism to Moscow in March this year, as well as the participation of the Minister and representatives of the Philippine tourism business in the Moscow Intourmarket fair, will allow us to significantly advance in increasing exchanges in this area. From the point of view of tourism and business in general, we also see mutually beneficial plans of the Russian airline Transaero to organize flights on the route Moscow-Hong Kong-Manila within the framework of a new air service agreement being prepared with the Philippine side.

Unfortunately, trade and economic ties between Russia and the Philippines still lag significantly behind the level of political dialogue. With a sufficiently strong legal framework for bilateral relations in this area - the trade agreement, agreements on economic and technical cooperation, on the avoidance of double taxation, on the promotion and mutual protection of investments - the volume of Russian-Philippine trade in 2005 even decreased from $ 395 million to $ 370 million compared to 2004. At the same time, Russian exports, which account for more than 85% of steel products, account for $ 325 million. The first priority is to

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increase the volume of trade turnover, expand the product range, eliminate trade imbalances. There are real opportunities for this. We hope that these processes will be facilitated by the bilateral protocol on Russia's accession to the WTO, signed in December 2005.

Energy cooperation is a promising area of economic and investment cooperation between Russia and the Philippines. Together with a number of ASEAN countries, we have already made considerable progress in this area. Creating an atmosphere of partnership and cooperation with the Philippines, which we clearly stand for, will help us build successful cooperation in this area as well.

Bilateral relations in the fields of science and technology, education, culture and sports are still very modest. At the same time, some progress is also being made here. Roskultura and Rossport, together with their Philippine partners, are coordinating interdepartmental protocols on cooperation in the areas under their supervision, and issues of establishing twinning relations between Moscow and Manila, St. Petersburg and Cebu are being worked out.

The interest of Filipinos in studying Russian cultural heritage and getting acquainted with the modern life of Russian society is growing. A positive role is played by the focus of the Arroyo Presidential Administration on developing full-scale relations with Russia, including in the trade and economic sphere, treating it as a promising tourist partner and a promising labor market for Filipino workers. Our scientists and teachers have become frequent guests at academic forums and seminars held in the Philippines. They are invited to work on a contract basis. MSU and the University of the Philippines signed an agreement on the exchange of teaching experience and sending students for internships. The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken direct control over the selection of students sent to study at Russian universities at the expense of the federal budget. The Philippine-Russian Friendship Society is gaining momentum. Organized in the summer of 2005, the trip of the Society's activists to Moscow and St. Petersburg had a great resonance in the Philippines.

In the context of further expanding our multifaceted cooperation with the Philippines, we attach great importance to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries.

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countries. Both sides, with the active involvement of their diplomatic missions in Manila and Moscow, have started implementing a number of events dedicated to the anniversary in advance. So, as part of the plan agreed with Roskultura, the Philippine folk dance group Bayanihan successfully performed in a joint concert with the V. S. Loktev Song and Dance Ensemble at the Hermitage Theater in Moscow in March this year. Concerts of the famous Philippine ensemble "Madrigal" are scheduled for May in the cities of Siberia. Roskultura and the Russian Embassy in Manila are implementing a plan to hold a Festival of Russian Culture in the Philippines. This work is being carried out with the direct participation of the Philippine-Russian Friendship Society. The possibilities of a return trip of the V. S. Loktev Ensemble to Manila and organizing a concert there by the Galina Vishnevskaya Center for Opera Singing are also being considered. We believe that these and other festive events that will take place throughout the year will lead to the desired activation of relations and exchanges between state and public structures of the two countries, will contribute to the growth of mutual interest and the development of contacts between the peoples of Russia and the Philippines.

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