PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has appointed Ma. Anna Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, wife of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, as Special Envoy for Trade and Investment to the United Arab Emirates.
The President administered the oath of office to Yu-Pimentel yesterday.
“I am profoundly honored by the trust and confidence President Marcos has placed in me.
My mission is to help in the strengthening of our investment and trade relationship with the UAE,” she said in a statement.
Yu-Pimentel is the president of the non-profit organization Pilipino Dapat Paglingkuran (PDP) Cares and co-owner of the restaurant franchise Tiong Bahru Philippines.
She is a professional chef and used to teach culinary courses at the Asia Pacific College.
After her oath-taking, Yu-Pimentel accompanied the President and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in welcoming United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Malacanang.
The Foreign Minister told Marcos that the UAE is looking to strengthen its bilateral relations with the Philippines by increasing trade and investments in Manila.
“Our relationship is growing, but not enough. We could do much better. It could be much better because I think we have an interest to further enhance it. But also the Philippines has shown that it’s been welcoming investors, we would like to do more trade, and to finalize and sit down with the Philippines,” the UAE official said.
He also acknowledged the contributions of Filipino workers to his country. Data from the Department of Foreign Affairs showed that there are about 648,000 Filipinos in the UAE as of January 2020.
The President expressed openness to deepen the two countries’ cooperation.
“We extend that relationship further and make it deeper,” Marcos said.
He also thanked the UAE for the various assistance that it had extended to the Philippines, especially during crisis situations, and for assisting Filipinos working in the UAE.
