Saudi Arabia welcomes Arroyo initiative to invest in new Bangsamoro Region

January 30, 2019

Officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had welcomed the initiative of former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to invite Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in Mindanao in the light of the passage and ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

This came during her twin meetings with Saudi Arabian officials, first with the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA) headed by its Governor Engr. Ibrahim Al Omar and then with Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al Sheik, her Saudi Arabian counterpart as President of the Majlis Al Shura of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s legislative body.

Arroyo was in Riyadh on the invitation of Dr. Al Sheik. She saw it as an opportunity to lead an investment mission of six Mindanao lawmakers to look for investment opportunities for the Mindanao in the light of the passage of the Bangsamoro law.

Arroyo led the delegation composed of Reps. Mauyag Papandayan, Macmod Mending Jr., Amihilda Sangcopan, Bai Sandra Sema, Ruby Sahali and Shernee Tan. 

Al Omar said Arroyo’s initiative to lead an investment mission to Saudi Arabia is timely because they have opened a lot of industries to foreigners and Saudi Arabian businessmen are actively looking for investment opportunities in and outside their kingdom.

SAGIA is the office in charge of all investment-related activities in Saudi Arabia.

He pointed out that Saudi Arabia is looking for partnerships to address their key sectors, particularly the Halal food market which is a $1.3 trillion industry. 

Al Sheik, for his part, said the Philippines is very important to Saudi Arabia because of the valuable contributions of Filipinos working in the Kingdom. He said that they are always looking for ways to improve bilateral relations and investment opportunities will always be a welcome development.

For her part,  Arroyo said Saudi Arabia will always have special consideration in the Philippine setting not only because of the almost one million Filipinos working in the Kingdom but also because of its support of the peace efforts in the Philippines.

She said with the passage and ratification of the BOL, the people of the Bangsamoro region are now expecting that it will bring prosperity in the area. Such could only be achieved, she pointed out, if jobs are created from new investments.

“With the help of the Saudi Arabian business community, we hope that there will be investments that will create jobs that is why I brought six congressmen, six legislators from the Bangsamoro with six specific investment proposal so that we can invite the Saudi businessmen to invest in Bangsamoro and help fight poverty,” she said.

She said recent bombing incidents in Mindanao are acts of terrorism borne out of poverty which the BOL will try to address.

“The last attacks we believe were terrorist attacks and we are very grateful to Saudi Arabia because you are with us in the fight against terrorism. When I was President of the Philippines, I always said that terrorism is very much related, at least in the Philippines, to poverty. And in the Philippines as well the problem of peace in Muslim Mindanao are also very much related to the problems of poverty,” she stated.

The six legislators are set to submit their investment proposals before the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.

Papandayan will look for a Public-Private Partnership to rebuild the Montaner Hospital and expand Al Haj Memorial in Lanao del Sur. Mending will look for investors to rebuild two hospitals destroyed by the Marawi siege while Sangcopan wants to expand the coffee production in Mindanao.

Sema will seek to look for investors in cacao production and the development of the Halal Economic Zone while Sahali wants to grow the seaweed industry in Tawi-Tawi. Tan for her part wants to invite investors who will conduct oil and gas exploration activities in the 3 pre-determined areas in Sulu Sea. DMS