Marcos secures $4.26B business deals in Saudi Arabia

(UPDATE) RIYADH: The Philippines has secured around $4.26 billion worth of investment deals during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s visit to Saudi Arabia that are expected to generate nearly 300,00 jobs for Filipinos up to 2030.

The four agreements between Saudi firms and Filipino companies were signed during Marcos' roundtable meeting with Saudi business leaders Thursday afternoon here.

Topping the four agreements is the $3.7 billion deal between Al-Jeer Human Resources Company (ARCO) and Association of Philippine Licensed Agencies for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to cooperate in terms of investments that would employ Filipino workforce in the Kingdom, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The agreement is expected to generate more than 200,000 jobs to meet the demands of the market in accordance with the the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

Also signed during the meeting, the DTI said, was the agreement between Al Rushaid Petroleum Investment Company & Samsung Engineering NEC Co. Ltd., and Filipino firm EEI Corporation valued at $120 million for the establishment of a 500-person training facility in the Tanza, Cavite, Philippines.

Meant to upgrade Filipino labor skills 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.

Likewise signed were two separate agreements between Maharah Human Resources Company of Saudi and Filipino firms Staffhouse International Resources Corporation and E-GMP International Corporation, each valued at an estimated $191 million.

Both agreements seek to onboard 10,000 Filipino workers annually to the Kingdom until 2030.

In his speech during the roundtable meeting, the President announced that $120 million worth of agreements will be signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia but did not elaborate on the deals.