Marcos bags $4.26B deals in Saudi Arabia
(UPDATE) RIYADH: The Philippines has secured about $4.26 billion worth of investments during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s visit to Saudi Arabia.
Four agreements between Saudi firms and Filipino companies were signed during Marcos' roundtable meeting with Saudi business leaders on Thursday in Riyadh.
The biggest of the four is the $3.7 billion deal between Al-Jeer Human Resources Co. (ARCO) and Association of Philippine Licensed Agencies for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide jobs for Filipinos in the kingdom, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The agreement is expected to create more than 200,000 jobs to drive Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
Also signed was the agreement between Al Rushaid Petroleum Investment Co. and Samsung Engineering NEC Co. Ltd., and the Filipino firm EEI Corp. to set up a training facility in Tanza, Cavite, worth $120 million.
Offering courses in masonry, carpentry, electrical, welding, equipment management, warehousing, steel fabrication, and other construction-related crafts, the deal aims to train at least 2,000 Filipinos starting in 2024 and more than 15,000 in the next five years.
Two separate agreements between Maharah Human Resources Co. of Saudi and Filipino firms Staffhouse International Resources Corp., and E-GMP International Corp. were each valued at an estimated $191 million.
Both pacts seek to send 10,000 Filipino workers annually to the kingdom until 2030.
In his speech during the roundtable, the President also announced that $120 million worth of deals will be signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. He did not elaborate.
«With an estimated value of over $120 million, the agreements that will be signed today are set to benefit more than 15,000 Filipinos in training and employment opportunities across a wide range of professions in the construction industry,» Marcos said.
He said his meeting with top Saudi business leaders comes at a time when the Philippine economy «continues its high growth trajectory,» citing the 7.6 percent gross domestic product in 2022, which is deemed «the fastest rate of growth recorded by the Philippines since 1976.»
The President also noted that foreign direct investments
