At the beginning of this year, Switzerland has for the first time adopted a regional strategy concerning the countries of South East Asia in recognition of the changing geopolitical landscape of the Asia-Pacific. In accordance with the Federal Constitution, its foreign policy adheres to four thematic focus areas: peace and security, prosperity, sustainability, and digitalization. For the Philippines, the area with the highest priority is “prosperity”.
The bilateral relations maintained between Switzerland and the Philippines, South East Asia’s 3rd largest economy, include, among other things, the free trade agreement of 2018. Furthermore, Switzerland supports the Philippine’s capacity building for disaster risk reduction and promotes the furthering of human rights as well as the peace process in Bangsamoro (in the country’s southern region). After all, there are numerous persons with a Swiss passport living in the Philippines — it hosts the second largest community of Swiss citizens in Asia. At the same time, it also has one of the world’s largest diasporas: remittances by migrants from the Philippines by far surpass the amount flowing into the region by means of development aid from other countries.
To implement the strategy’s objectives, Switzerland relies on the cooperation of numerous actors and promotes various partnerships such as those with organizations from civil society.
The South East Asia Strategy 2023-2026 is available on the website of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.
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