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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider DTI chief Pascual affirms strong PH-UAE bilateral trade relations

DTI chief Pascual affirms strong PH-UAE bilateral trade relations

Published Nov 26, 2023 07:11 pm

Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual affirmed the strong bilateral trade relations between the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the bilateral trade meeting with the UAE officials held at the Shangri-La BGC on Friday, Nov. 24. 

Pascual said during a high-level ministerial delegation from the UAE led by Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, and Minister of State Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh where they discussed potential collaboration and partnership in priority sectors including clean energy, infrastructure and health care. 

“This meeting is a testament to our shared commitment of strengthening economic ties between our nations. On the part of the Philippines, we are encouraging UAE firms to explore the conducive business environment in the country as we envision to achieve mutual economic growth,” he said. 

The trade and industry chief highlighted the Philippines’ growing appeal as an investment destination and outlined broad opportunities for collaboration across various sectors to further strengthen economic and bilateral partnership between both countries. 

He cited the strength of the growing economic ties between the UAE and the Philippines wherein bilateral non-oil trade increased by 19.4 percent in the first half of 2023, reaching $500 million compared to the same period in 2022. 

Pascual also highlighted the Philippines pursuit of boosting its halal economy aimed to grow trade and investments with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, which the UAE is a part of. He also added the strength of the Philippines to accommodate investments in mutual interest sectors, such as renewable energy, tourism, financial services, transportation, and logistics. 

Highlighting the country’s vision of stronger economic ties with the UAE, the DTI chief emphasized, “the current administration is keen in its goal of positioning the Philippines as a prime destination of foreign investments, particularly in addressing climate change. We look forward to our partnership with the UAE government and private firms in ensuring a sustainable and resilient future for both our nations.” 

The DTI chief further emphasized that under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s leadership, the Philippines is poised to transition to an investment-led economy that will generate higher quality and better-paying jobs for Filipinos. 

He also outlined the current administration’s whole-of-government approach to streamline foreign investments in the country. The trade and industry chief also underscored the increase in the country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). He cited projections from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) of an anticipated FDI net inflow of $9 billion in 2023. 

He further discussed that the surge in FDI is projected to escalate to approximately $11 billion by 2024, indicating the country's attractiveness to foreign investors.  

The DTI Secretary also shared the Board of Investments' (BOI) recording of P1.07 trillion in investment approvals from both local and foreign resources from January to October 2023, marking an 86 percent increase compared to the PHP 576 billion in the same period last year. 

Addressing future collaborations, the trade and industry chief announced the upcoming visit of Marcos to the UAE in December, with the goal to strengthen ties between the two nations. 

He stated that Marcos' visit will underscore the Philippines' commitment to addressing global challenges, particularly climate change to pave the way for a sustainable and resilient economic cooperation.

 

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