Tapping the potential of Saudi-RP friendship

RIYADH – Up to the last minute, the group of high-level Philippine media delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was still in the dark on the precised itinerary of the visit. But this was taken by most as a cultural adjustment of sorts. Here time is lost in the endless sand dunes. But kidding aside, on Day 1 we were given a guiding schedule so we could meet up with the highest officials of the kingdom and get our briefing first hand. I have been here once as the lone lady attendee for last year’s Islamic cultural and intellectual festival and I have made the place an inquiry interest. As I said in earlier column what intrigues me is not the modernization of this once sleepy desert into a dynamic and modern country but how it retains its devotion to tradition and religion in a changing word.

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I am also glad that the team leader of our group is STAR publisher Maximo Soliven, a seasoned journalist who will question every assumption on its own. My compadre will be the brake for my enthusiasms. But I am convinced that after the necessary spadework has been done there will be mutual benefits for both countries beyond our expectations. One thing is sure — Filipinos, in general, know little about this country. The same goes for the Saudis who have until now confined their interest on the Philippines to export labor. Investments, as well as exchanges on technology and industry are wide open fields. Ironically, this potential may yet be realized for another reason. With at least another five dependents back home to every OFW here, politicians are paying more attention to Saudi Arabia. The OFWs and their families make the single most influential voting bloc in any electoral contest once they get their act together. The most active advocates of the Absentee Voting Bill are Filipinos in the Middle East. I understand that a group of senators have been invited to visit after Ramadan. Former President Fidel V. Ramos is also expected next week.

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Things are moving here that presage better relations between our two countries. This was confirmed by the series of appointments we had on the first day of our visit. We met with HH Prince Abdullah of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Ahmad A. Al Mansour, Deputy Minister for Labor, and HRH Prince Tukieben Sultan. I note that both sides skirted the threat of war in discussions. Our meeting with HH Prince Abdullah eben Faisal eben Turki, chairman of the Board and CEO of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority which is the equivalent of our BOI turned out to be the most fruitful. How or why the Philippines should be seen as a potential source of investments seemed mystifying at first until he spoke. He was thinking of how we might drum up interest in Manila to build houses for Filipinos right here in Saudi Arabia. He also talked of a new openness in his country and although these were early days Filipino investors should begin to think of setting up businesses here from restaurants to broadcasting stations and newspapers for the Filipino community. While the systems are still being set up for less stringent rules to ease the inflow of investment, Filipinos should start planning and be first in the queue, the prince said.

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But what about the other way around? I asked. What about Saudi investment to the Philippines? Although this was not within his authority, he nevertheless assured us that his card, which he handed to each of us, would open doors on that aspect. A business delegation should come here and meet with their counterparts. I did not have the heart to tell him that Usama Al-Kurdi, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a good friend of Amb. Al Ghamdi had already made initial contacts but so far these had not taken off and it is no fault of the Saudi side either. What is rue is that the seeds of friendship are being planted and that it will not be too long when business will follow these friendships. In that sense, Ambassador Al-Ghamdi was right to concentrate on making sure that as many Saudis meet with Filipinos as the first step to bigger enterprises. Prince Abdullah referred to Filipinos as blood relatives and referred to his own family’s nanny, a Filipina whom they have treated as a family member and visited on the only trip he had made to the Philippines.

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By the way, on the night before our departure Ambassador Al-Ghamdi told us he would soon be leaving to take up his new post as ambassador to New Delhi. As Max Soliven put it Al-Ghamdi is not just the best ambassador we have had from the Kingdom, he is the best ambassador. We are saddened by his departure but are grateful for the many things he made possible during his short stint in Manila. It is up for us to carry on the openings he made for more vigorous relations. Riyadh newspapers also announced the appointment of another exemplary diplomat, and Philippine friend, Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Ghazi Al-Ghamdi can be expected to live up to expectations. He had recently authored a controversial poem , an ode to the suicide bombers of Palestine, that rocked the usually staid London diplomatic row.

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Speaking of diplomats, there’s a new team at the Philippine Embassy here in Riyadh headed by Ambassador Bahnacion A. Guinomla, a career diplomat. Also at the airport was Third Secretary and Vice Consul Germinia Aguilar Usucan. I met with the previous ambassador here, Ambassador Seguis and his assistants Raymond and Celeste Balatbat before he was assigned to Jakarta. Oftentimes we are not aware of the Herculean job our diplomats undertake with huge Filipino migrant labor communities around the world and miniscule budgets.

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Up to the last days of Ambassador Rafael Seguis, he had to defend embassy staff wrongly criticized in newspapers. The embassy staff can do no wrong but oftentimes stories are filed by those who have ulterior motive other than the good of Filipinos. It is equally wrong to see nothing but the difficulties of OFWs who work in a different culture and environment. Unless we balance our perspective on the huge Filipino presence in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East, we will not be able to take advantage of the many opportunities open to us because of this presence. We have focused too much on the difficulties and missed on the opportunities. This is one of the things that our media delegation should correct after this informational trip.

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My e-mail address: [email protected].