Canberra – Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega called on Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment the Hon Mark Coulton MP at Parliament. Representing Parkes, New South Wales, Minister Coulton underscored the significant contribution of the Filipino community in his electorate.

The two officials discussed the trade relations of the Philippines and Australia and the efforts of both countries to move forward in the negotiations in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). RCEP is the trade agreement initiated by ASEAN with dialogue partners namely, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and ROK.

Australia is a major trading partner of the Philippines ranking 15th among 223 trading partners. END