(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its support for Filipino workers, calling it a “true partner in building smarter, future-ready governments.”
The President expressed appreciation to the UAE during his meeting with an official delegation from the UAE led by Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange Abdulla Nasser Lootah in Malacañang on Thursday.
“We are grateful to the UAE for its continued support to our Filipino workers and for being a true partner in building smarter, future-ready governments. Through shared knowledge and collaboration, we are creating meaningful change for our people,” Marcos said in a social media post.
Lootah and officials from various UAE offices and sectors are in the Philippines from Sept. 16 to 18 to attend the Philippines and UAE Government Experience Exchange Forum.
The deputy minister was accompanied to Malacañang by UAE Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi and other UAE officials.
During the courtesy call, Lootah relayed the UAE government’s interest to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the Philippines and his country.
The Philippines and UAE Government Experience Exchange Forum seeks to enable government personnel from both countries to jointly pursue the shared vision of innovative and future-ready governments.
The event was attended by first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda, and other ranking Filipino and Emirati officials.
The forum covered areas for potential collaboration including strategies and innovation; making the government competitive; improving services; and artificial intelligence.
The event was organized by the Department of Budget and Management, and the UAE Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.
The initiative stemmed from a memorandum of understanding signed in February, which aimed to step up the country’s digitalization efforts.
In his remarks, Bersamin described the partnership as an “investment” in more efficient governance.
“It affirms that the Philippines and the UAE, though separated by geography, are bound by a common purpose to make government a true instrument of peace, prosperity and progress,” Bersamin said.
On the sidelines of the event, Pangandaman said the UAE has committed to providing technical assistance to projects such as digitalization to make government processes more efficient.
“We’ll try to announce the three projects that we’re going to have in the future,” Pangandaman said.
