President Rodrigo R. Duterte is expected to sign agreements on labor, defense, trade and investment, and other bilateral deals with the governments of Israel and Jordan when he goes on an official state visit to the countries next week, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto C. Abella said.
In a pre-departure briefing at the Palace on Thursday, Aug. 30, Mr. Abella said: “President Rodrigo Duterte is undertaking historic visits on September 2 to 8, to renew and expand ties with Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan upon invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan.”
With Israel, he said, “the areas of cooperation will be enhanced by the signing of the following agreements: Labor – a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on the employment of Filipino caregivers; Science – a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on scientific cooperation; Investment – an MOU between the Board of Investments and [its counterpart]in Israel.”
As for the President’s visit to Jordan, Mr. Abella said: “We are elevating our relationship with the Kingdom with the first ever visit of a Filipino President to Jordan on the 6th to the 8th of September 2018.”
He added: “The areas of cooperation to be enhanced are: (1) Labor – agreement on the employment of domestic workers; and also a Memorandum of Understanding on labor cooperation, we expect improvement of working conditions of Filipino domestic workers bound for Jordan. (2) Next, Defense – Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation; we expect an upgrade of the country’s defense capabilities; (3) Foreign Affairs – political consultations on trade and investments; we are expecting an investment agreement with Jordan Investment Commission.”
He also said that the Philippine government also “expect(s) enhancement of two-way trade and investments” with Jordan. “Lastly, a mutual recognition of STCW or Standard of Training and Certification of Watchkeepers for Seafarers,” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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