MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. described his one-day working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as “short, but highly productive.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Marcos said his visit was meant to commemorate 50 years of “very strong and friendly, and rapidly progressing bilateral ties” between the Philippines and the UAE.
The Chief Executive stated that he was able to reaffirm Philippines’ commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties with UAE with the aim of “progressing towards new spheres of engagement.”
Several bilateral agreements were signed covering areas such as culture, energy transition, legal cooperation, artificial intelligence and digital economy, improvement of government activities, visa waiver for holders of diplomatic, special, and official passports, and investment cooperation.
President Marcos met with UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, expressing his gratitude to the UAE’s care and respect for the Filipino community there.
“I thanked Sheikh Al Nahyan for understanding that my visit had to be cut short, given the need to attend to relief and reconstruction activities in communities devastated by successive typhoons,” Marcos said.
“I also conveyed appreciation for the UAE Government’s constant humanitarian support for victims of these natural calamities,” the President added.
President Marcos also invited Al Nahyan to the Philippines to continue their dialogue and explore further areas of cooperation./PN
