By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

Exchange of visits between Qatar and Philippine foreign ministry officials are expected to take place next year to further strengthen bilateral ties, the department of foreign affairs (DFA) in the Philippines has said.
Part of the initiative to be explored in 2016 is a visit by the Philippine head of state to reciprocate the successful visit of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in 2012 when he was the Emir.
The announcement came after Philippine ambassador Wilfredo Santos recently met with the director of Asian Affairs Department at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khalid Ibrahim al-Hamar.
The MoFA official expressed hope that 2016 will be a more productive year for Philippines-Qatar bilateral relations.
For his part, Santos said he pushed for the convening of the inaugural meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission for Bilateral Co-operation (JMCBC).
“JMCBC has yet to convene despite the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on its establishment 18 years ago,” he said. “If this body will convene, it will be headed by the respective deputy foreign ministers of both countries.”
The MoU was signed on March 10, 1997 in Doha between then Philippine foreign affairs secretary Domingo L Siazon and his then Qatari counterpart, HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmad bin Abdullah
al-Mahmoud.
Santos said the JMCBC meeting will hopefully pave the way for the signing of several pending bilateral agreements between the two countries in various fields such as health, culture, investments, and visa waiver for diplomatic passport holders and
government officials.
The envoy said he is also expecting more exchanges and visits in business and trade between Qatar and Philippines. He expressed optimism that trade volume will increase in the coming years.