Marcos: Saudi Arabia trip 'very productive'

The Manila Times

Marcos: Saudi Arabia trip 'very productive'  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks to Filipino journalists who covered his visit to Saudi Arabia. During the interview, the President said his visit was 'very productive' as the Philippines was able to secure business agreements and generate the interest of Saudi Arabian companies on the country's Maharlika Investment Fund  Video by Catherine Valente  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes

Transcript

00:00 This is the first summit of the ASEAN GCC, which is extremely important because the GCC

00:09 countries and the ASEAN member countries really comprise the two most vibrant economies, regional

00:19 economies in the world today.

00:21 And for them, for us to join forces, for us in ASEAN to join forces with the GCC is a

00:28 very significant event.

00:30 And we look forward to very many things that we can do together.

00:35 And at the same time, the countries in the Gulf states are all also looking for assistance,

00:45 for help, for workers, not only workers but also for trade, for business, for investment.

00:51 And that is what we were able to talk about.

00:55 And I think that the future is bright for this partnership between the Gulf states and

01:03 the ASEAN member countries.

01:07 There is a very clear understanding, especially amongst the Gulf state, the leaders of the

01:15 Gulf states, that in this globalized economy, it is important to continue to make these

01:26 arrangements, make these agreements, so that we have a very strong basis on which to - from

01:32 which to transform our economies and from which we can grow.

01:38 At the same time, well, on the bilateral side, that we were - and the reason that many of

01:44 our economic managers are here with us on this trip is because we have the - there is

01:51 a change, especially in Saudi Arabia.

01:56 Upon talking to the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince of the Philippines, we have - they

02:04 are very interested not only in, of course, getting increased contractors and laborers

02:13 and health and professional skilled workers, engineers, architects, because they are going

02:20 to build a lot.

02:27 But it is not only a one-way street anymore.

02:32 We need to also - we would like to also go to the Philippines and invest and do something

02:38 in the Philippines.

02:39 So, first of all, it is very simple and it is a little obvious.

02:45 Our proposal, we are saying, because almost all of the food here in Saudi Arabia is imported.

02:54 Their agricultural land is very little, if you will, and they are already poor in water.

03:01 So, what I am saying is, why don't you invest, invest in the Philippines and build a house

03:09 and build a factory for food, to process foods, halal foods, but specifically for Saudi Arabia.

03:19 And that will bring jobs to the Philippines and will also increase our food supply.

03:25 So these are the kinds of things that we have been talking about.

03:28 Also in the finance - in the financial instruments that they are - they have been presenting,

03:35 we have to talk to them more about that.

03:37 We did not have enough time to go into detail, but again, that is a prospective area.

03:45 One of the areas that Saudi Arabia has been very active in is actually in the development

03:50 of renewable energy, because they have a very forward-thinking leadership.

03:58 They see that they would like to diversify their economy, not just dependent on petroleum

04:08 products and to increase their - to increase the stability of their economy, not so dependent

04:15 on just one commodity.

04:18 So these are - and of course, we reintroduced to them the Maharlika Investment Fund.

04:27 And that was - that has proceeded very quickly.

04:32 And we have gone into - we have already started with detailed talks with the PIF, which is

04:39 the equivalent here in Saudi Arabia.

04:41 It is their investment fund.

04:43 And how we can do - how we can work together.

04:47 And it is not only Saudi Arabia.

04:49 It has all - it is also other - the other Gulf countries who have expressed an interest.

04:54 I am very encouraged and quite happy by the fact that the reaction that we got from our

05:05 partners in Saudi Arabia and in other countries has been very encouraging.

05:11 And they really want to help and contribute to our investment because we have shown that

05:24 it is a good investment for us.

05:28 The concept of an investment fund, a sovereign fund for the Philippines is growing even more

05:34 attractive, ever more attractive as we go down the road and we talk to more of our perspectives

05:41 and our competitive partners when it comes to the sovereign fund.

05:44 And I'm confident that once we get it operationalized, once we are able to start talking in detail

05:55 with not only the investment funds but even private corporations and other governments

06:00 as well.

06:01 And that is precisely the role that we have envisioned for the sovereign fund, the Maharlika

06:08 fund, and that is what the direction that it has taken.

06:14 And again, our partners have become - have been very, very encouraging in their reaction

06:23 to what we have presented to them.

06:26 I also am happy to report that today, this morning, on a very - from a very - I was just

06:34 asked - after we were making speeches, we got a message from the Crown Prince of Kuwait.

06:41 He said, "Can we have a quick chat for just three to five minutes?"

06:48 He said, "It won't take very long."

06:50 And we said, "Of course."

06:52 And I spoke to the Crown Prince and he said that he didn't like what happened between

06:56 Kuwait and the Philippines, that he disagreed with what the people were doing.

07:01 He says that the words that he used, "Do not listen to them.

07:07 This comes from small people.

07:09 I do not agree with what they have been doing."

07:11 And in fact, as he said, "There's no reason for you to apologize to us."

07:17 "Don't you know what they're asking us to do?

07:20 Apologize to them."

07:21 And he said, "As a matter of fact, I will apologize to you," said the Crown Prince,

07:24 "for what happened.

07:25 We will fix it and we will make it because we love the Philippines."

07:29 He says, "Because I remember your father.

07:32 He always supported Kuwait.

07:34 He always supported us.

07:36 And I know that you will always also support us.

07:39 That's why we will fix this."

07:41 So we fixed the problem in Kuwait.

07:44 The bans that we made, the bans of the Kuwaiti people.

07:47 Because I have a strong heart to say that we talked to the Crown Prince.

07:52 And I don't think there's no one as high an authority as you need to resolve all of these

08:00 issues that have arisen over the past months.

08:05 So that is what I'm saying to our fellow countrymen.

08:12 Just for that, it's worth it that we traveled because we fixed the problem in Kuwait.

08:17 It's really hurting our heads how we will do it.

08:22 But that is one of the successes that we can record from this trip.

08:36 The other is the agreement with Saudi Arabia that not only will they continue to hire Filipinos

08:45 at every level in the workplace, but also that they will come and do a lot of work in

08:53 the Philippines.

08:54 And they will invest in the Philippines so that they can return.

08:59 Because what they look at us for is that they thank us for helping them transform and to

09:10 progress their economy.

09:12 And we have played a very large part.

09:17 Yesterday, we had a very good roundtable meeting with the Saudi corporations in the different

09:27 fields, the logistics, energy, agriculture, digitalization.

09:33 And again, we had presented the Philippines, we presented the settlement fund.

09:39 And we started to explore what are the things that we can do together.

09:47 The minister of what they call MISA, which is the Ministry of Investment, Saudi Arabia,

09:57 was very helpful.

09:58 Because their minister spent one year living in the Philippines.

10:02 He was working with Petron for one year.

10:06 He brought his family there.

10:07 So he loves the Philippines.

10:10 And he was very, very helpful and very, very encouraging.

10:13 And he was really trying to bring together our plans and how they can be part of it.

10:21 And that was also a very productive meeting, even if it was quick.

10:30 Much of many, there are many things that are done that are not in the plenary hall, that

10:37 are not in formal speeches, but on the sidelines.

10:40 And that's one of the things that I think is, again, has been a very good thing for

10:46 us.

10:47 And it is now, again, as I always say, we have these trips, that it is up to us now

10:56 to follow this up, to develop these ideas, to explore what will work in the Philippines,

11:02 to see what is appropriate for the Philippines.

11:06 And we will, that is what we will now begin to do when we get back to the Philippines.

11:15 We also signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, between EEI and a large, they are not

11:32 recruiter, but they bring workers from the Philippines to Saudi Arabia.

11:44 Thank you.

11:52 [Applause]

11:53 [End of Audio]

11:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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