According to the Nova Agency, Russia and the Philippines could sign a cooperation agreement in the development of nuclear energy during the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Manila which kicks off today.
This was stated by Harry Roque, the spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, quoted by the newspaper "The Manila Times". Russia "has companies that would be interested in investing in the energy sector, and there is a nuclear energy company that would like to sign deals with the Philippines," Roque said. According to the spokesperson, in the wake of the meeting between President Duterte and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam in recent days, several Russian companies have expressed interest in investing in Philippine transport sector. "There are Russian companies that want to invest in transportation, including a metro, and Putin himself has mentioned interest in building a metro line to Baguio and La Trinidad," said Roque.
According to the Philippine spokesman, the agreements in question will be signed on the sidelines of the 31st summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which kicks off today in Manila. "We are also evaluating the opportunity to sign technical and military agreements" with Russia, added Roque, according to which the Moscow companies would be "very interested in selling aircraft and helicopters". In addition, the spokesman concluded, there is also an interest in selling at least "ten high-speed ships and other types of boats".