President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday hosted in Malacañang German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier who is in the country for a three-day state visit.
Steinmeier, accompanied by First Lady Elke Büdenbender and the rest of his delegation, arrived in Manila late Monday night.
It is the first time that a sitting German leader has set foot in the country since 1963.
“The President's visit is a clear indication of Germany’s commitment to sustain the momentum of high-level exchanges between our countries, following my productive visit to Berlin to meet with then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz in March 2024, the same year that the Philippines and Germany celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations,” Marcos said.
“Our relations with Germany are important not just because our portfolio of cooperation spans a wide array of sectors, but because these partnerships and projects have proven
to be successful and beneficial to our national development efforts,” he added
The chief executive likewise noted that Germany remains a strong partner of the Philippines in terms of trade and investment, being the country’s biggest trading and investment partner in the European Union (EU) with total bilateral trade at about $5.5 billion and net foreign direct investments amounting to $10.26 million in 2025.
As of September 2025, there are at least 40 German-affiliated companies registered in the Philippines. Leading firms include Lufthansa Technik, Bayer, Merck, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Linde.
Germany is the ninth-largest source of official development assistance (ODA) to the Philippines. As of September 2025, Germany had provided $46.95 million in assistance, accounting for 2.41 percent of the country’s total grants portfolio of amounting to $1.949 billion.
Marcos likewise underscored Germany’s support to the Philippines in terms of defense and security and maritime cooperation.
“The Philippines looks forward to continuing to enhance our partnership with Germany in the years ahead,” he added.
Steinmeier, in response, said both countries “are very close” even though “geography is sometimes a hurdle”.
This, the German leader said, is possible because of the thousands of Filipinos who reside and work there.
Most of them work as engineers, scientists, nurses, and in the service sector.
“Our cooperation is not only marked by international and regional developments.Our peoples too continue to grow together,” Steinmeier said.
“The great and continuously growing number of Philippine skilled workers in Germany plays an important part in that regard. We welcome them with open arms and are very grateful for the important job they are doing thousands of kilometres away from their home country. And we see great potential in expanding that cooperation,” he added.
