Hopes are high for stronger bilateral relations between Qatar and the Philippines under the incoming administration of Philippine President-elect Rodrigo R Duterte, ambassador Wilfredo Santos has said.
Speaking to Gulf Times during the 118th Philippine Independence Day celebration diplomatic reception yesterday, Santos said: “The Philippine embassy in Qatar will work together with the incoming administration to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. We will work together to prepare for the signing of agreements and possible bilateral visits.”
The event was attended by the guest of honour, HE the Minister of Justice Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi, along with chief of protocol at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, director of the Asian Affairs Department at MoFA Khalid Ibrahim Abdulrahman al-Hamar, and Eritrean ambassador Ali Ibrahim Ahmed, dean of the diplomatic corps in Qatar.
Also present at the reception were ambassadors from Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, other diplomats, Philippine embassy officers and staff, and Filipino community leaders.
In his speech, Santos noted that “there is still so much more room to explore and develop with our bilateral relations with Qatar, and the Duterte administration, in partnership with the embassy, will hopefully pave the way for that furthering of relations”.
“We look forward to working hand in hand with the Qatari government in strengthening our relations in various areas of co-operation,” the ambassador stressed.
Citing an announcement made on May 19 by Philippine socioeconomic planning secretary Emmanuel F Esguerra, Santos said the Philippines experienced a 6.9% growth in Q1 of 2016, which is above market expectations given the average consensus forecast of 6.6% for the first quarter.
“We are fervently hoping that this robust performance will be sustainable enough to enable the Philippines to achieve the official GDP growth projection of 6.8% to 7.8% for the whole of 2016. Among the Asian economies that have already released their growth data for the quarter, the Philippines was reportedly the fastest-growing economy.
“The economic performance of the Philippines from 2010 to the first quarter of 2016 remains the highest growth average recorded by the country backed by sound macroeconomic fundamentals. The administration of President Benigno Aquino III, therefore, leaves a legacy of good governance and economic reforms that paved the way for this continuing high growth pattern,” Santos emphasised.
Santos said Duterte’s economic agenda “paints a promising picture” of the Philippines’ economic future, which includes agricultural development, increasing infrastructure spending and expanding the government’s conditional cash transfer programme, among others.
“As a member of our foreign service corps, I join the rest of the Philippine embassy in working closely with the new administration in steering Philippine foreign policy at a time when incoming President Duterte dominated the electoral support of overseas Filipino workers, the Philippines is slated to hold the chairmanship of the Asean in 2017 and economic diplomacy enabled the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to play a much more significant role in contributing to the country’s impressive economic growth,” he said.
Santos also thanked the HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani “for allowing overseas Filipinos in Qatar to be active players and contributors to the country’s development”.