MANILA, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and Indonesia agreed on Friday to tighten their maritime security cooperation in a bid to quell piracy by extremists in the waters bordering the Philippines and Indonesia.
The agreement was reached during the bilateral meeting between Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Widodo is here for a state visit ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Saturday.
In their bilateral meeting, the two Southeast Asian leaders also discussed security concerns, the fight against illegal drugs, enhancing trade ties, and people-to-people exchanges, among others.
Both leaders witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on possible agricultural cooperation, including exchanges of technical assistance, joint research and mutual consultation.
Both sides looked forward to productive ASEAN meetings throughout 2017 and underscored their commitment to upholding peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
