Newly appointed French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz paid a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. on Monday.

In a news release on Tuesday, both sides reaffirmed the close ties between the Philippines and France and committed to deepening their cooperation in defense, trade and investment, infrastructure, and health.

In particular, Locsin and Boccoz agreed to explore ways to assist each other in addressing the challenges resulting from the pandemic.

Climate change cooperation was also identified as a key area of cooperation given the adverse impact of climate change on the Philippines and France’s leadership role in the Climate Change Conference.

Locsin welcomed the conferment on France of the status of a Development Partner of Asean and looked forward to working further with France in gender justice, environmental protection, migration, and cybersecurity as the Philippines assumes the role of country coordinator for Asean-European Union relations this year.