JEDDAH, 5 November 2007 — A delegation of officials and businessmen is arriving in Jeddah today from Manila to promote Philippine products and joint ventures with Saudi investors, the Philippine Consulate said yesterday.

Commercial Attaché Paisal D. Abdullah, representative of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center for Jeddah, said the 2nd International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Roadshow and Food Business Mission to the Middle East will be in the Kingdom until Nov. 11.

“This is in line with the continued bilateral trade relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Philippines and to promote the International Food Exhibition to be held in the Philippines next year,” Abdullah said in an interview.

Abdullah said members of the business delegation hope to meet with Saudi businessmen or representatives of companies to discuss joint venture opportunities.

“Our business delegation will be available for one-on-one meetings with interested investors on Nov. 7 at the Ramada Continental Hotel (formerly Al-Harithy Hotel) on Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 pm.” He said.

Abdulla said the delegation will also meet with members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and of the Filipino business community.

The delegation will be in Riyadh from Nov. 9 to 11, where they will make a courtesy call on officials from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and also meet with the Saudi and Filipino business community there. They will stay at the Riyadh Palace Hotel.

From Riyadh, the delegation will proceed to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Abdullah said the mission includes representatives of eight companies headed by Imelda J. Madarang, vice president and general manager of RFM Corporation, Fisher Farms Inc., Florence Foods Corporation, Fortress Food Manufacturing Corporation, KSK Food Products, Q-Phil Products International, D’ Fortune Philippines, Inc., and MPC Pangasinan Tropical Fruits,

The mission also includes trade and agriculture officials, including project manager Maria Antonieta V. Salazar of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), Tarciana R. Redondo and Dionne Lee E. Caytilles from the Department of Agriculture.

Interested individuals or groups are invited to contact the consulate’s special trade assistant, Vivian Malli-Pungutan, at telephone number 283- 2876 and fax numbers 283-2648.

Community members have noted that while Philippine food exports to the Kingdom jumped significantly in the past 5 years, the volume is still low despite the big number of Filipinos, estimated by the Philippine Embassy to have surpassed 900,000 last year.

Thailand, in comparison, has a far smaller community and a far bigger volume of exports to the Kingdom.