The Philippines expects to secure 18 investment agreements worth $650 million during the state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to the Middle East on April 10 to 16.
The investments, brokered by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, involves 10 projects from Qatar worth $175 million, 7 from Saudi Arabia valued at $465 million and a lone investment of $10 million from the United Arab Emirates.
Peza director-general Charito Plaza said the Philippines would negotiate the projects in an advance trade and investments mission to the Middle East.
“Peza will be the advance party. We’ll arrive a day ahead of the official state visit of the President,” she said.
Investments coming from Qatar include four retirement villages with combined investments of $158 million. The biggest of the proposed retirement haven projects with tourism component will require a minimum investment of $90 million to set up operations in Tagaytay, Boracay and Cebu. The facilities are expected to be at least 5 to 8 hectares each, with employment reaching 1,250 workers.
