mb.com.ph : RP, Libya agree to start business partnership

[tolibya]

By DELFIN PEREZ

TRIPOLI, Libya (via PLDT) — Filipino and Libyan businessmen yesterday agreed to start a business partnership focusing on four specific areas of cooperation. These are on construction, health, furniture, and tourism.


Donald Dee, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and head of the nine-man business delegation with President Arroyo’s state visit here, signed the memorandum of business partnership agreement with El Mohammad Kanoun, president of the Federation of Libyan Chamber of Commerce.

Libya and the Philippines also signed a new labor agreement providing for government-to-government recruitment of Filipino workers to this country.

As provided in the business accord, the Philippines would immediately send a business mission here to meet with the Libyan businessmen.

Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of Philexport, the umbrella organization of Philippine exporters, said that the Philippine delegation is also looking at exports, particularly agricultural product exports.

He noted that the President had impressed the Libyan businessmen in her speech. President Arroyo addressed the Libyan businessmen before the start of their meeting with their Filipino counterparts.

Among the four sectors agreed in the memorandum, Dee said construction has the most potential. He said PCCI would bring in two major Philippine contractors to meet with the prospective Libyan business partners.

On furniture, the Philippines will initially concentrate on hotel and office furniture only, Dee said.

On health, Dee said they were asking the Libyan businessmen to invest in hospitals in the Philippines to serve as training ground for nurses for Libyans.

Instead of the Philippines sending nurses to Libya under the health services sector agreement, Dee said the Philippines would rather train Libyan nurses in the country since Filipino heath workers are in demand also in other parts of the world.

On tourism, Dee said the Libyans promised to send their tourists to the Philippines. However, he is not too optimistic about investing since Libya herself still needs more investments.

Meanwhile, the President Arroyo announced the new labor agreement in her speech before some 8,000 members of the Filipino community here. She said acting Labor Secretary Arthur Brion had signed the agreement with his Libyan labor minister counterpart.

The agreement also provided for the establishment of joint PhilippineLibyan efforts to protect Filipino workers here.

Based on the information from the Philippine embassy here, Filipino workers, particularly those in the medical profession, have once complained of delayed remittances of salaries and poor accommodations.

Although it has somewhat improved as a result of the embassy’s consistent lobbying and the new Libyan labor and employment regulations, there remained the need to push for better conditions for the Filipino migrant workers.

The President said the Philippines would establish a Libyan desk in Manila labor office to process recruitment of workers bound for Libya, while the Libyan government had committed to assign a labor attaché in its embassy in Manila for better coordination.

Majority of the OFWs here are employed in various construction projects and in the oil sector while most female OFWs are medical workers or are employed in other service sectors such as hotels.

Most of the worksites are located in this city, Benghazi, and Brega areas while hospitals are mostly found here and in Zawia, Benghazi, and Beida regions.