Saudi Arabia officials have welcomed the invitation of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Saudi businessmen to invest in Mindanao now that the Bangsamoro Organic Law has been passed in a plebiscite.
This came during Arroyo’s meetings with Saudi Arabian officials with the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority headed by its governor engineer Ibrahim Al Omar; and 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 considers 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 Represetatives Mauyag Papandayan of Lanao del Sur, Macmod Mending Jr. and Amihilda Sangcopan of Anak Mindanao party-list, Bai Sandra Sema of Maguindanao, Ruby Sahali of Tawi-Tawi and Shernee Tan of Kusug Tausug party-list.
Al Omar said Arroyo’s initiative to lead an investment mission to Saudi Arabia was timely because they 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.
Al Omar said that with the vision of Saudi Arabia to be an investment powerhouse and the country that connects three continents by 2030, investing in other countries especially in areas most important to their growth was one of their priorities.
He pointed out Saudi Arabia was looking for partnerships to address their key sectors, particularly the Halal food market which is a US$1.3 trillion industry.
Al Sheik for his part said the Philippines was very important to Saudi Arabia because of the valuable contributions of Filipinos working in the Kingdom.
He said that they were always looking for ways to improve bilateral relations and investment opportunities will always be a welcome development in that respect.
For her part, Arroyo said Saudi Arabia would 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.
“It is indeed true what you said about the strong bilateral relations between our two countries. Saudi Arabia is very important to the Philippines not only because you host almost a million Filipinos here but also because you are a very big supporter of our peace process in the Muslim Mindanao,” she during her official visit to the Majlis Al Shura in Riyadh.
She stressed 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.
“So it is now our responsibility to try to do what we can in order to fulfill the expectations of the people of Bangsamoro that they be lifted out of poverty and the best way to fight poverty now in the Bangsamoro is to be able to create jobs. 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,” Arroyo said.
She added the recent bombing incidents in Mindanao were acts of terrorism borne out of poverty which the BOL would 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 said.
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.
Arroyo expressed optimism that the investment mission would bear fruit in order to jumpstart the next phase in the development of Mindanao.
“This is the start and I hope that with the help of our friends in Saudi Arabia, we can start the next level of development for the people of Mindanao,” she said.