MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/: Russia is interested in opening a joint venture for arms production in the Philippines, Russia’s Ambassador to that country Igor Khovayev said at a news conference, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
"We are ready to organize the joint production of modern types of armaments and small arms here, in the Philippines. You, the Filipinos, will be producing Russian armaments. These will be Filipino products under Russian technologies," Xinhua quoted Khovayev as saying.
Work in this area has begun and currently Moscow and Manila are discussing specific proposals on this issue, the envoy said. He did not specify, however, what types of weapons Russia intended to produce in the Philippines.
"Both sides intend to open new horizons of our cooperation in the defense sphere and the joint production of armaments on Filipino soil is one of such horizons," he explained.
In October 2017, Russia and the Philippines signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation. Several days later, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu took part in the ceremony in the Manila port to transfer a batch of Russian-made small arms and army trucks.
