Marcos arrives in Manila from one-day UAE working visit

WORKING VISIT President Marcos meets with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday. The two leaders vowed stronger ties on trade and other economic areas. —AFP

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has arrived in Manila after his one-day working visit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The plane carrying Marcos landed at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

READ: Marcos meets UAE president to discuss areas of cooperation

During his trip, Marcos met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed areas of cooperation in the sectors of economy, trade and sustainability.

“At this brief visit, I reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to further strengthen our bilateral ties, progressing towards new spheres of engagement,” Marcos said in his arrival statement.

“I look forward to the implementation of several bilateral agreements in culture, energy transition, legal cooperation, artificial intelligence and digital economy, the improvement of government activities, visa waiver for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports, and investment cooperation,” he noted.

Marcos added that he extended his invitation to the UAE leader to visit the Philippines and resume their dialogue and explore further ideas of cooperation.

He also personally thanked Al Nahyan for pardoning 143 Filipinos during this year’s Eid al-Adha and for UAE’s humanitarian aid to victims of recent flooding in the Philippines.

Based on a Global Media Insight blog dated September 25, 2024, Filipinos constitute 6.8 percent, or about 700,000 individuals, of the UAE’s total population.

From this number, around 450,000 Filipinos reside in Dubai.

UAE is also the second-largest employer of Philippine expats next to Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest Filipino communities outside the Philippines.