President Rodrigo Duterte and United States President Donald Trump are set to meet for the first time during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam tomorrow.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leo Herrera Lim said Duterte and Trump will likely see each other for the first time during the welcome dinner for the APEC Summit 2017 on November 8.
The summit meet comes four days before Trump makes his way to the ASEAN Summit in Manila this Sunday.
“There’s several opportunities for exchanges. If you see pretty much a convergence between the two presidents would be: one, on national security, both at the country level and at the regional level; and then number two, the desire to grow the different engines of global economy,” Lim said in a news conference.
Prior to their first meeting, Trump and Duterte had talked on the phone at least two times, discussing issues of common concern such as the crisis at the Korean Peninsula.
Trump has also expressed support for Duterte’s war on drugs, which has been heavily criticized for the deaths of thousands of Filipinos.
Meanwhile, Lim said bilateral meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin may also take place during the APEC Summit in Vietnam.
“In a forum or in a platform that you have 21 economic leaders, one, the chances of a not a scheduled bilateral but even a pull aside, a meeting would be –
— would not be easily discounted ‘no,” Lim said.
“There’s enormous opportunity within that three to four days to have a small, a closer discussion of issues that are close to the hearts of both the US and the Philippines. So… If I’m betting money, it will be higher than 50 percent chances.”
After the APEC Summit, Duterte and Trump will again have another chance to meet during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Philippines next week.
