President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 12 to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and witness the signing of trade and defense agreements between the Philippines and the UAE. Marcos will join other world leaders in discussions on energy, water, food, and environmental sustainability at the invitation of UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro. "President Marcos firmly believes that his visit to the UAE will be meaningful and beneficial for the Filipino people," Castro said during a Palace briefing. On the sidelines of the event, Marcos and his Emirati counterpart will witness the signing of the Philippines-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and a Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation. "CEPA is the Philippines' first free trade agreement with a Middle Eastern country, which aims to expand our country's market access in the Middle East," Castro said. "The defense cooperation memorandum, in turn, will serve as a strong foundation for our partnership with the UAE to develop our country's defense technologies," she added. This will be Marcos’s first official foreign trip in 2026, more than a year after his official visit to the UAE in November 2024, where both countries highlighted the contributions of overseas Filipino workers to UAE development. According to the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, bilateral non-oil trade doubled to $1.85 billion in 2022, making the UAE the Philippines’ 17th largest trading partner and the largest among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Philippine direct investments in the UAE were valued at $34 million in 2021, with both countries exploring further cooperation in financial technology and financial services.
