Saudi next

A diplomatic to-do list will see President Marcos flying to Saudi Arabia in October.

The agenda: "further strengthen the strong, friendly and vibrant relations that happily exist between our two countries and peoples," said Foreign Affairs undersecretary Antonio Morales on the evening of Saudi's celebration of its national day in the Philippines early this week.

Riyadh had expressed its desire for a better cooperation with Manila when Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal Al Saud visited the President last year.

Mr. Faisal reiterated the intent to "maintain the positive momentum of bilateral ties" with the Philippines when he met Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo at the UN General Assembly in New York.
"We greatly value the mutual support and collaboration between our countries, as seen through our active participation in regional and international forums, enhancing economic cooperation, and fostering a strong partnership," Saudi Arabia Ambassador to the Philippines Hisham bin Sultan Al-Qahtani said.

Saudi has been in the Philippines' learning network in terms of agriculture, energy-efficiency technologies, renewable energy, infrastructure and tourism, "the epitome of a nation with a vision for the future" having had a lot of success addressing complex economic problems.

"The whole world now sees Saudi Arabia as the model of bridging the past and the future, where heritage and history are intertwined with urbanism, cultural shifts, and international competitiveness," Mr. Morales said.

Fundamentally, Saudi has been highly reputed to employ a steady stream of overseas Filipinos — the largest number in the Middle East — who have significantly contributed to the country's continuous development.

The kingdom has been ranked in 2022 as the Philippines 16th major trading partner.

Manila continuously diversifying its exports can hedge its bets with its data-processing machines to satisfy Saudi's digital-driven Vision 2030.

A recent mutual recognition agreement on the accreditation of halal-certifying bodies, which will "aid in the development of quality Philippine halal exports through capacity-building and the expertise of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority," is also expected to raise the Philippines' trade volume with Gulf countries.

Filipino franchise brands also hold an immense potential for growth in the kingdom, owing to over 1.7 million Filipinos living in Arabia.