UAE, Philippine leaders witness signing of CEPA

Alongside UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr witnessed the signing and exchange of the historic free trade Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the Republic of the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday morning, on the sidelines of the January 11 to 15 "Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2026" held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

On behalf of the Philippines, the CEPA, a first for the Philippines with a Middle Eastern country, was signed by Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, according to Manila's Presidential Communications Office.

Initial studies indicated that Philippine exports to the UAE, the largest market in the region, shall increase by 9.13 per cent as Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver on Monday said that the CEPA would also broaden the Philippines' access to the other Gulf countries’.

According to an earlier report, the diplomatic and bilateral relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the UAE are expanding and accelerating.

In an interview by the Presidential Communications Office-Radio Television Malacanang (PCO-RTVM) on Monday and ahead of the working visit of President Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr. to Abu Dhabi this week, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver said in a mix of Filipino and English: “This is the second in about 14 months. The first visit of President Marcos was in November 2024. So in a short span of time, President Marcos and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, would be meeting twice.”

“The last visit of a Philippine president was 15 years ago yet,” the One Philippines Team head to the UAE, also said.

Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand during an interview.

Ver continued: “Symbolically and substantively, that means a lot.”

Based on Philippine-headquartered media institutions, the 17th president of the republic since June 2022 departed for Abu Dhabi on a chartered flight at 6 pm (Manila time/2 pm UAE time) on Monday.

The second Marcos Jr. working visit to the UAE “middle of January,” and the first overseas trip for the year, was first reported last Dec.29 by the Manila Bulletin, which quoted Trade and Industry Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, concerning the signing of the Philippines-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the initial talks of which arose during the Expo2020 Dubai.

It is being undertaken upon the invitation of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, that is currently hosting, until Jan.15 (Thursday), the “Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week,” a major international arena wherein top-level delegations, including heads of state, discuss global concerns such as environmental protection, energy transition and finance, as well as water and food security, according to the Philippine News Agency.

In the PCO-RTVM interview, Ver emphasised the relevance of the Philippines at the major global forum: “It has been said that the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change; so, we need all the help that we can get.”

“But aside from that, we are also here to share what we know and have been implementing back home, based on our experience as a country vulnerable to climate change,” he also said, mentioning that at least 12 heads of state are attending the forum, running on its 18th year.

According to Ver, the CEPA signing will expand cooperation in trade, services, and investments. It shall broaden the Philippines’ access to other five member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Another agreement “expected” to be signed concerns the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation covering joint training, exchange of officers, and information sharing.

“The UAE has very highly developed defence capabilities from which we shall benefit. It is an addition to the Security Agreement with them,” said the top Philippine diplomat in the UAE since January 2023.

The Philippines and the UAE Diplomatic Relations is on its 51st year. It was formalised on Aug.17, 1974. This led to top-level exchange visits and which, according to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, include the December 15, 2008 official visit of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In November 2023 was the UAE high-level economic delegation visit to the Philippines headed by Minister of State Ahmed Bin Ali Al Sayegh and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi for the “UAE-Philippines Business Forum.” They met with Philippine Cabinet officials and business leaders.

The expansion of the relations is reflected on the signing of other MoUs and treaties since seven years back and until 2025: combat against human trafficking, consular affairs, agriculture cooperation, space cooperation, investment in data centres, economic and technical cooperation, climate change, energy transition, culture, the Philippines’ Maharlika Investment Fund, improvement on government activities, artificial intelligence and digital economy, reduction of waste leakage in river systems, extradition, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, transfer of sentenced persons, and security cooperation.