The Philippines and Saudi Arabia signed an investment agreement worth more than $4.26 billion during President Marcos' visit to the Gulf country.
The investment agreement was signed during a roundtable meeting with Arabian business leaders on Thursday, Oct. 19.
Marcos said more than 15,000 Filipino people will benefit from the multi-billion-dollar-investment agreement in terms of employment opportunities in the construction industry and human resource services.
“With an estimated value of over $120 million, the agreements that will be signed today are set to benefit more than 15,000 Filipinos in training and employment opportunities across a wide range of professions in the construction industry,” he said.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Saudi’s Al Rushaid Petroleum Investment Company and Samsung Engineering NEC Co. Ltd. signed with Philippines’ EEI Corp. for construction export services worth $120 million.
Saudi’s Al-Jeer Human Resources Company-ARCO also signed with the Association of Philippine Licensed Agencies for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for human resource services agreement worth $3.7 billion.
Moreover, Saudi’s Maharah Human Resources Company inked an investment agreement worth $191 million each to Philippines’ Staffhouse International Resources Corporation and E-GMP International Corporation for human resource services.
The President acknowledged the valuable contributions of the companies that took part in the effort to strengthen the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.
“To our current and future business partners, I hope that this meeting has served as an excellent platform for building greater and closer partnerships between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
During the meeting with the Saudi Ministry of Investment led by Minister Khalid Al-Falih, Marcos noted that the meeting was timely as the Philippine economy continues its high growth trajectory with gross domestic product at 7.6 percent in 2022— the fastest growth rate recorded since 1976.
He also emphasized that the Philippines has posted $9.2 billion in net inflows of foreign direct investments in 2022 in a bid to attract the Arabian business leaders.
“Our financial and banking sectors are healthy and robust. Our credit rating continues to receive stable and positive investment grades,” Marcos said.
“Indeed, the Philippines’ economic achievements in the past year reflect the sustained efforts of this administration, supported by the private sector, in fostering an enabling business environment, cutting red tape, lowering the cost of doing business, and improving competitiveness,” he added.
The Chief Executive also assured the business community that the Philippines will remain steadfast in its commitment to continuously support current and prospective Saudi investors.
Marcos is in Riyadh to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council (ASEAN-GCC) Summit.
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