Despite Oil Decline, Gulf States Remain Key to Philippine Growth Strategy

Despite Oil Decline, Gulf States Remain Key to Philippine Growth Strategy
Saudi King Salman receives Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 11, 2017 (Saudi Press Agency photo via AP).

Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, went on his first visit to the Gulf last month, spending six days in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. In an email interview, Aaron Jed Rabena, resident fellow at the Ateneo Teehankee Center for the Rule of Law and associate fellow at the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations, explains what was on the agenda, including protections for migrant workers and the conflict in the southern Mindanao region.

WPR: How have ties been between the Philippines and the Gulf evolved in recent decades, and what have been past areas of cooperation?

Aaron Jed Rabena: Traditionally, the Middle East has been economically strategic to the Philippines for several reasons. First, the region provides vast opportunities for Filipinos looking to work abroad in both skilled and unskilled positions. There are currently about 760,000 Filipinos workers in Saudi Arabia, 250,000 in Qatar, 60,000 in Bahrain and hundreds of thousands more in Kuwait and Oman.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review