(AseanAll) — The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to expand trade cooperation to strengthen economic relations between the two countries.
According to the Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines,UAE Minister of Investment Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi visited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacanang on February 7, 2025 to discuss enhancing trade and investment opportunities for both sides.
Marcos said Alsuwaidi’s visit demonstrated both countries’ commitment “to work together more closely than we have had in the past.”
“I’m happy to see you and discover so many areas that would be possible for us to explore further,” the President told the UAE official.
In response, Alsuwaidi informed the President that the UAE recognized Filipino nurses for providing excellent patient care in his country. He also described the relationship between the Philippines and the UAE as “very deep.”
Said Alsuwaidi: “After having discussions today, we really don’t understand why we haven’t historically invested more, and given the amount of opportunities we see, whether it’s in the infrastructure, whether it’s in industrial mining or telecommunication, data centers, renewables — the size of opportunities, healthcare, are tremendous.”
In 2023, the UAE was the Philippines’ 18th largest trading partner out of 230. Approved investments from the UAE totaled PhP376.71 million, ranking 18th in 2023, and PhP82.59 million, ranking 25th, from January to September 2024.
Priority sectors for investment promotion to the UAE include agribusiness/agriculture, energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy, infrastructure or public-private partnership projects, innovation (artificial intelligence), information technology, and business process management.
On November 30, 2023, the Department of Trade and Industry and the UAE Ministry of Investment signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop high-capacity data center projects in the Philippines. UAE companies such as Edgnex Data Centres signified plans to invest in data centers here.
On January 15, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Board of Investments, and Masdar signed an Implementation Agreement to develop solar, wind, and battery energy storage systems in the Philippines. The project aims to achieve a total capacity of up to one gigawatt (GW) by 2030, with a total investment of USD 15 billion.
In November 2024, Marcos visited the UAE and met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, expressing gratitude for the care and respect shown to the Filipino community there. The two leaders acknowledged expanding their relations into new cooperation areas beyond traditional sectors.
