In a bid to curb the spread of Indonesian militants into the southern Philippines, a de facto training ground for Islamic State (IS) movement supporters in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines have agreed to set up a joint forum on counterterrorism and expand the exchange of intelligence.

In his visit to Manila on Friday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his counterpart Rodrigo Duterte agreed to establish counterterrorism working groups that will set guidelines for the two countries in their efforts to combat terrorism.

The measure will be put into effect during this year.

Indonesia’s National Counterterrorism Agency will spearhead the new measure and establish guidelines for military members of the two countries in how they conduct joint exercises, monitor threats and suppress militants and pirates in their respective territories.

“We have agreed to form a joint working group on counterterrorism this year. We will also strengthen cooperation in the exchange of intelligence,” Jokowi said.

Counterterrorism is a top priority for Indonesia. Just last week, a raid by the Philippine military on an IS-linked group in the southern Philippines resulted in the deaths of three militants who allegedly held Indonesian citizenship.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said Indonesia was still in the process of confirming the identities of the three militants.

Jokowi arrived in Manila for a three-day state visit on Friday. He spent his first day in the city holding a bilateral meeting with Duterte, who visited Jakarta in September last year.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has also met with his Philippine counterpart. The two officials agreed to try and cut off the financial resources of Islamic militants in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Wiranto said Indonesia and the Philippines were aware that IS was stepping up its efforts to strengthen its position in the southern Philippines. The terrorist movement hopes to make the southern Philippines its main base for operations in Southeast Asia.

A lack of sufficient security personnel along the border of the two countries has made it easy for Indonesian militants to cross into the southern Philippines from North Sulawesi.

The immigration checkpoints cannot effectively prevent Indonesian militants from entering the Philippines as locals can visit their relatives in Mindanao in the southern Philippines with just a border pass rather than a passport.

Aside from the issue of counterterrorism, the two leaders also hope for increased intimacy in the realms of trade, investment, marine connectivity and agricultural cooperation.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on agriculture and a joint declaration on the establishment of sea connectivity between the port cities Davao and General Santos in the southern Philippines and Bitung in North Sulawesi.

Both Jokowi and Duterte will officiate the new shipping route on Sunday in Davao before Jokowi flies off to Hong Kong.

The establishment of the new shipping route will benefit Indonesia as it will expand access for Indonesian products into the Philippine market.

“The existence of the new route will support Indonesia’s development from the east,” Retno said.

Duterte said the Philippines was committed to improving defense and security cooperation with Indonesia. He said his country was especially eager to implement the Indonesia-MalaysiaPhilippine trilateral arrangement to secure the vital waters that connect the three countries.

“We recognize the need to address both traditional and emerging threats and we express our readiness to step up cooperation against terrorism, violent extremism, piracy at sea and transnational crimes, including drug trafficking,” Duterte said.

Indonesian sailors and fishermen have been frequently kidnapped while working in the Sulu waters off the southern Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group is often responsible for these crimes.

Jokowi told Duterte that the Indonesian House of Representatives had recently ratified a historic maritime agreement pertaining to an exclusive economic zone between Indonesia and the Philippines to safeguard the two countries’ maritime areas. Jokowi expressed the hope that Philippine legislators would soon follow suit.

Despite a number of agreements, the bilateral meeting did not discuss the fate of death-row drug convict Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a Philippine citizen who was spared execution in April 2015 after Jokowi agreed to exclude her from the list less than six hours before the arrival of the firing squad.

“It [the Veloso issue] was not on the agenda,” Retno said.