Marcos lists business deals, investments for PH and OFWs from Riyadh visit

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. detailed the partnership deals formed between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during his visit to Riyadh for the 1st ASEAN-GCC summit on October 19 to 20.

In his homecoming speech, Marcos said that his discussion with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman created a new aspect in the relationship between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

“Whereas before essentially it was just for employment and we sent our people, our OFWs, now, they have extended that relationship and say that it is time that they bring investment to the Philippines and to support their food supply situation and to support the industries that they are going to expand and they are going to establish,” Marcos said.

Marcos described the new development as a “two-way street” between both countries, with the kingdom’s investments acting as a reciprocal gesture for the approximately 760,000 overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia.

“We will send -- certainly continue to send our workers to Saudi Arabia. But they will also, for their part, come to the Philippines and invest, make capital investments here in the Philippines as they see ASEAN and the Philippines, in particular, as a very – as an area of very good potential for the development and transformation of their economy,” said the President.

Meanwhile, Marcos had also attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between EEI Corporation and Samsung Engineering NEC Co. to establish a 500-person capacity training facility in the Philippines to upskill Filipino employees working in the construction industry.

“The facility aims to train at least 3,000 Filipinos a year and more than 15,000 Filipinos in the next 5 years, ready for deployment with their newfound skills,” Marcos said.

Saudi and Philippine human resource companies also discussed three business-to-business agreements for further training and employment of OFWs in other industries, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The agreements were projected to generate over $4.2 billion and provide up to 220,000 new jobs for aspiring OFWs within the next few years. — DVM, GMA Integrated News