Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, has received a high-level delegation from the Philippines at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy in Dubai.
The delegation included Mr. Benjamin Diokno, Secretary of Finance; Ms. Amenah Pangandaman, Secretary of Budget and Management; Mr. Arsenio Balisacan, Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority; Mr. Francisco G. Dakila, Jr., Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines; Ms. Rosalia V. de Leon, National Treasurer; and HE Alfonso Ferdinand A. Ver, Ambassador of the Philippines to the UAE, in addition to several officials.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed avenues for enhancing trade and investment relations, highlighting the latest updates of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries, which began after the two sides announced the beginning of talks in February 2022. It aims to enhance investment flows, facilitate intra-trade movement, and create new opportunities for business communities in the two countries.
They also reviewed developments related to boosting bilateral relations and ways to develop joint economic projects across sectors of mutual interest, such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, transportation, and logistics, as well as financial and banking services.
The two sides focused on the importance of joint work through the private sector by benefiting from the chambers of commerce and industry in the two countries, as well as joint and local business councils.
According to the statement, “Non-oil intra-trade between the UAE and the Philippines continued to flourish in the first half of 2023, recording $506.1 million, an increase of 19.4 percent compared to the same period in 2022, while intra-non-oil trade in 2022 totaled over $1.850 billion, up from $830.3 million and $715.6 million in 2021 and 2020, respectively.”
