Qatar signs ‘$200 million deals’ with Philippines

Doha : Qatar and the Philippines have signed trade agreements worth $200 million during the final leg of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Gulf tour, Manila’s trade and industry secretary told reporters in Doha yesterday.

Ramon Lopez said 6,000 jobs would be created in the Philippines as a result of the 13 agreements signed between private companies at the weekend, which covered areas such as health, defence and tourism. 

“The private firms in Qatar have shown great interest in various projects (in the) Philippines,” Lopez told the Qatar Tribune newspaper.

Retirement villages, tourism, information technology, ecozone management, hospital and medical tourism, poultry and halal food processing, manufacture and export facilities of nano-structure carbon, and agro-industrial ecozones are some of the areas earmarked, GMA News reported. “There are many more opportunities where they can invest,” Lopez added. 

His comments came as Duterte prepared to meet senior government officials in Doha on Sunday, and less than 24 hours after the former mayor addressed an adoring crowd of almost 7,000 supporters in Qatar.

Overall, Duterte is bringing home deals worth over $925 million from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar from his six-day visit. According to presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, these deals are expected to generate some 62,000 jobs. Following discussions with Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Duterte signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in the field of culture, mutual investments, cooperation in technical and vocational training and health. 

Duterte thrilled a sell-out audience by reiterating his uncompromising policy pledges on drugs and warned those in the drug trade not to test him. 

During an hour-long speech, Duterte spoke also about his pledges on clamping down on corruption, affirming that he will go after companies that do not pay correct taxes. He also sang a duet with a local Filipino singer, Hanna Uddin.

Duterte was seen off after his three-day visit at the Hamad International Airport by the Minister of Energy and Industry, Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Ambassador of Qatar to the Philippines,  Ali bin Ibrahim Al Malki, and Ambassador of Philippines to Qatar, Alan Timbayan. 

Some 240,000 Filipinos live in Qatar, and a large majority voted for the president in last year’s election.

Despite criticism of the way some Filipino workers are treated in the Gulf, Duterte said earlier on his visit that expats managed to send home more than $7 billion (6.6bn euros) in remittances in 2016.

The president returned home yesterday after also visiting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. His trip was aimed at advancing the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW)s and enhancing trade as well as cultural relations.