MANILA – The Philippines and France have established a task force to promote discussions on expanded cooperation in areas such as security and energy.
According to French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz, no meeting date has been scheduled yet but a mission from France is set to fly to Manila once details have been finalized.
The task group was established as a result of the telephone call and meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and French President Emmanuel Macron last month in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“We’re looking at the situation, what we can offer, what are the areas that we could focus on,” Boccoz said in an interview at her residence in Makati City on Thursday night.
“We don’t have a date (for the meeting as of yet). It should be soon because we have pressure from both presidents, we’re working on that,” she added.
Macron and Marcos discussed ways to strengthen cooperation on low-carbon energy, food security, addressing climate change, defense, and human trade during their meeting.
Regarding energy, Boccoz stated that the two countries may collaborate on small nuclear reactors, which she believes are appropriate for the Philippines as an archipelago.
“We’re moving to a new technology which is small nuclear reactors, and this is something that is very much adapted to the geography of the Philippines in the sense that you can have modular, smaller units that can be on islands and you don’t need to have a huge grid or to have a huge production somewhere. This is an area where we’re going to work more closely,” she said.
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