Bilateral relations with the Republic of the Philippines

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of the Philippines were established on May 22, 1996.

Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Mr. Valery Kolesnik is the non-resident Ambassador to Republic of the Philippines since September 2017. In January 2013 – July 2017 H.E. Mr. Vladimir Lopato-Zagorsky was accredited as the Ambassador of Belarus to the Philippines, previously (before 2002) Belarus Ambassador was accredited to the Philippines from Tokyo (Japan).

The Philippines ambassador to Russia is usually a non-resident ambassador to Belarus. On June 6, 2016 Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the Russian Federation Mr. Carlos D. Soretta presented credentials to the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of the Philippines are Mrs. Anna Marie Ablan (Honorary Consul of Belarus in Manila since 2018, 2005-2018 Honorary Consul of Belarus in the Philippines) and Dr. Milagros Ong How (Honorary Consul of Belarus in Davao, since 2018).

In 1996 the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus visited the Republic of the Philippines.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Sergei Martynov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines met twice on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement events (in May 2006 in Malaysia and in July 2009 in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt).

Inter-parliamentary contacts

In April 2005, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Mr. Sergei Zabalotets met with the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Mr. Jose de Venecia during the 112th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Manila.

In March 2014, the Chairman of the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mr. Vladimir Senko met with the President of the Senate of the Philippines during the 130th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva.

In April 2016, the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Mr. Vladimir Andreichenko met with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Giorgidi Aggabao during the First Meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of Eurasian countries in Moscow.

Parliamentary delegations of Belarus and the Philippines hold regular meetings during annual sessions of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (2012 – in Indonesia, 2013 – in Brunei, 2014 – in Laos, 2015 – in Malaysia, 2017 – in the Philippines, 2018 – in Singapore).

In 2020, the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of 7th convocation set up a working group for cooperation with the Congress of the Philippines. 

Bilateral trade between Belarus and the Republic of the Philippines

(U.S. $ million) 

Import from the Philippines consists mainly of electric power transformers, natural rubber, printing equipment, integrated circuits.Belarus exports to the Republic of the Philippines potash fertilizers, milk whey, tire products, different equipment and printed products.

In October 2016, with the support of the Philippine agro-industrial company Universal Harvester Inc. delegation of businessmen from the Philippines and Indonesia visited Belarus. Negotiations were held with the management of the OJSC “Belarusian Potash Company” and the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry companies “Belaruskali”, “MTW”, “Belshina” During this visit.

In May 2017, the delegation of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines visited the 8-th International exhibition of arms and military machinery “MILEX-2017”.

In September 2018, a delegation of Belarusian enterprises of the military-industrial complex took part in the third Defense, Security and Crisis Management Exhibition and Conference «ADAS – 2018».

The delegation of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines in December 2018 visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Belarus, JSC “MTW”, the state enterprise “Milk fairing”. 

The Belarusian automobile engineering company BelAZ has delivered the first batch of dump trucks to the Philippines. The company shipped six BelAZ-7555В dump trucks with the lifting capacity of 55 tonnes. They were installed and commissioned into operation on Cebu Island in late December 2018.

In March 2019, a delegation of business circles of the Philippines, headed by the Secretary (Minister) of the Department of Agriculture, E.Pinol, visited the Republic of Belarus. Areas of possible cooperation are discussed in B2B format. In development of the reached agreements, on June 4-7, 2019, a group of Philipino experts took part in “Belagro-2019” agricultural exhibition.

In 2019, deliveries of OJSC BelAZ dump trucks to the Philippine branch of one of the largest cement producers of the Cemex company continued, new items of Belarusian-made equipment were shipped.

In 2020, Belarusian dairy producers expanded their presence in the Philippine market. As a result, in 2020 the growth exports of whey and milk powder increased by 49% (compared to 2019) and reached 5.5 million US dollars.

Bilateral Belarusian-Philippine political cooperation is developing. In December 2021, online consultations were held between the Ambassador of Belarus in Jakarta Mr.Valery Kolesnik and the Head of the Department of European Affairs of the Philippine Foreign Ministry Mr.Jaime Victor Ledda.

Increasing supplies of Belarusian dairy products and potash fertilizers to the Philippines contributes to the growth of Belarusian exports to this country. As a result, in 2021 Belarusian exports to the Philippines increased by 95,53% (compared to 2020) and reached 14,6 million US dollars. The growth of exports of Belarusian services to the Philippines in 2021 amounted to 193.4% (compared to 2020).