RIYADH, 26 September 2005 — Investment promotion and protection, financing, technology and trade are up for discussion when Philippine government officials and businessmen meet with their Saudi counterparts early next month here, the Philippine Embassy has said.
The 40-member delegation, to be headed by Undersecretary Edsel Custodio of the Department of Foreign Affairs, is expected to arrive in Riyadh by the month’s end in time for the 2nd Philippine-Saudi Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) scheduled on Oct. 2-3, said Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla.
Custodio, a former undersecretary at the Department of Trade and Industry, is responsible for international economic relations at the DFA.
Heading the Saudi delegation is Dr. Yousef ibn Tarad Al-Saadoun, deputy minister for economic affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guinomla said.
The meeting is part of the RP-Saudi Bilateral Agreement for Economy, Trade, Investment and Technical Cooperation, which was signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos and the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd when Ramos vi-sited the Kingdom in 1994.
“There will be three subcommittees which will be discussing collaboration in various fields and agreements,” said Vice Consul Romulo Israel, who is in charge of trade and economy, ASEAN and GCC affairs, and strategic planning at the Philippine mission here.
The first subcommittee will hold talks on economy, trade and investment, agriculture, industrial and manpower cooperation; the second will discuss culture, education, information, and sports and youth cooperation; the third will take up technical and communication cooperation.
Philippine officials expect the RP-KSA Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement to be signed during the meeting. They will also seek clarification on market access that the Philippines negotiated with the Kingdom during the bilateral meetings in Geneva some time back.
Delegation members from the Philippine trade and industry and agriculture departments as well as from the Philippine Coconut Authority will discuss with the Saudi side various issues, such as the release of Saudi specific standards on marine and coconut importations, and the invitation for a Saudi delegation to observe the country’s protocol on cadang-cadang research and cadang-cadang-free areas.
Cadang-cadang is a disease that is estimated to kill 500,000 coconut palms each year in the Philippines.
They will also take up the status of the Philippine-Saudi issue on the ban on coconut product importation, and a clarification on the nature of health certificate that will accompany Philippine export processed coconut products to the Kingdom.
They will also discuss food promotion, including coconut-based products in the Kingdom and explore the possibility of tapping the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) for the development of coco-fiber and geo-textile products in the Philippines.
The Philippine delegation is seeking Saudi investment in production and development of coconut diesel and the training and exchange of information and expertise in aquaculture.
They will also propose other projects for Saudi financing, such as storage, handling and utilization of testing of coconut biodiesel blends and development on the uses of coconut fiber and peat as agricultural and bio-engineering materials in Mindanao.
Delegation members from the Philippine Maritime Industrial Authority will discuss with Saudi counterparts the Filipino participation in oil transport, export of shipyard workers, trade in maritime transport services, and marketing of Filipino seafarers.
Delegation members from the Department of Science and Technology will discuss the establishment of a Halal Food Laboratory Center, Halal Quality Program, the establishment of the Cotabato Region Information Sharing Network (Crisnet) with information technology laboratory, and the proposal for an integrated school management system for state colleges and universities in Central Mindanao.