$4.26-B Saudi investment pledges signed

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Members of the Philippine business delegation who flew here with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed $4.26 billion worth of investment agreements with Saudi business leaders Friday.

Marcos was present at the signing of the agreements, which took place on the fringes of a conference of Gulf and Southeast Asian countries in this Middle East nation.

Malacañang said that EEI Corp. of the Philippines and Samsung Engineering of Saudi Arabia reached a deal for construction services valued at $120 million.

The Palace said that al-Jeer Human Resources Company inked a $3.7-billion human resources services contract with the Association of Philippine Licensed Agencies for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Another $191-million agreement for human resources services was also signed by Maharah Human Resources Co. of Saudi Arabia and Staffhouse International Resources and E-GMP International Corp., both of the Philippines.

President Marcos acknowledged the valuable contributions of the companies that are taking part in the effort to strengthen the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, which serves as home to over one million Filipino migrant workers.

"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.

The President assured the business community that the Philippines will remain steadfast in its commitment to continuously support current and prospective Saudi investors, as he emphasized that the Philippine government has amended existing laws to further open its economy to foreign investments.