Philippine ambassador Wilfredo Santos is assisted by Philippine Business Council – Qatar chairman Greg Loayon during the opening of the Philippine Property Investor Show - Qatar (PPIS-Q). Looking on is Association of Filipino Real Estate Executives in Qatar (Afreeq)chairman Joseph Rivera (right)

By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

Low cost of living is among the benefits that could entice Qataris and other Qatar-based expatriates to consider the Philippines as a retirement destination, an official of the Philippine Business Council – Qatar (PBC-Q) said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the Philippine Property Investor Show - Qatar (PPIS-Q) yesterday, PBC-Q chairman Greg Loayon said the Philippines is poised to be a retirement haven and government agencies like the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) is providing a wide range of incentives and benefits to attract foreigners to the country.
“The participation of the PRA in the PPIS-Q ties in together with the move to market the Philippines as a destination for both Qataris and other Qatar-based expatriates,” Loayon told Gulf Times.
Citing the growing German community of retirees in the Philippine province of Bohol, Loayon said: “There are huge European communities that have retired in many provinces the Philippines.
“But there are not many Arabs who have done that yet, which is why it is high time that we put a focus on the Philippines as a destination for ‘cost-effective retirement’. We have a retirement authority that provides benefits to foreign retirees, and their money can go a long way in the Philippines.”
Philippine ambassador Wilfredo Santos, who led the PPIS-Q’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, said the event “further taps the purchasing power of Filipinos in Qatar who are searching for worthy investments for their earnings.”
“Being an overseas Filipino is only a short-term arrangement. There will come a time when the person will retire and he or she has a form of investment to look forward after retiring from overseas employment.
“Attracting prospective buyers from the 200,000 overseas Filipinos in Qatar should not be the sole focus of the PPIS-Q. There also lies a promising market among Qatari and other expatriates that could invest in the Philippine property market,” the ambassador said in a speech.
Aside from the “array of incentives and benefits” offered by the PRA to entice foreigners to the Philippines, Santos said: “I hope public-private partnerships between the PRA and real estate companies will be organised to come up with a concerted effort to attract potential among overseas Filipinos, Qataris, and other expats.”
He added: “This is in line with the embassy’s new thrust to revitalise economic and trade relations between the Philippines and Qatar. There is so much more that could be achieved in terms of our economic diplomacy in Qatar.”
Santos also stressed that the recent arrival of Cebu Pacific here and the increased number of flights to the Philippines given to Qatar Airways will lead to more tourist arrivals in the country.
Joseph Rivera, chairman of the Association of Filipino Real Estate Executives in Qatar (Afreeq) and organiser of PPIS-Q, announced during the event that the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has requested Afreeq to move the formal exhibition of the PPIS-Q to November 20 to 21 as the association “will be the first real estate organisation in Qatar to host a property exhibition that will be 100% compliant to the new rules and regulations of Qatar.”
“All the nine PPIS-Q sponsors from the real estate industry in Philippines have full, legitimate partnerships with duly-established commercial and business entities in Qatar,” Rivera added.