MANILA — Philippine-Kuwaiti relations are expected to normalize as the two nations continue threshing out some labor issues, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said on Saturday.

Marcos Jr. said that during his meeting with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, they agreed to "continue to discuss some of the obstacles" in Philippines' relationship with Kuwait.

This includes the "bans we had imposed for employment," he said during his arrival speech in Pasay City.

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"He was very effusive in saying we should remove all of those and we should continue as we had done before, which is a very important development because for a few months now, we have had to ban the deployment of Philippine workers in Kuwait," the President said.

"That would end and we will now return to the normal state of affairs with the Kuwaiti government and in fact they moved very quickly, they have already started discussions at the ministerial level -- at the ambassadorial level as well."

• DFA insists no need for PH apology to Kuwait amid visa row

The Department of Migrant Workers in February this year suspended the application of first-time domestic workers to Kuwait, pending some improvements on monitoring and response systems.

While no specifics was mentioned by the late DMW Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople, the decision came days after the killing of 35-year-old Jullebee Ranara, an overseas Filipino worker who was found in the Kuwaiti desert in January.

• Philippines, Kuwait ties tense over migrant workers' rights

At the time, Ople noted that the DMW opted for deferment instead of a total deployment ban because some migrant workers who have already worked in Kuwait for several years "want to go back to their old employers or seek new ones."

Months after, Kuwait suspended the entry and work visas for Filipinos.

Citing the Philippines' alleged non-compliance to a labor agreement, the Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation on May 10 ordered airport personnel to bar Filipinos from entering the country, except for those who are Kuwait residents.

In an earlier interview with reporters in Riyadh, the President said the Kuwaiti Crown Prince promised their side "will fix it and we will make it because we love the Philippines."

Marcos: Saudi trip yielded $4.2-billion in investment pledges

Meanwhile, the President touted the over $4.2 billion worth of investment commitments that his Saudi trip yielded during his 2-day trip.

Marcos said a memorandum of understanding was signed between Saudi’s Al Rushaid Petroleum Investment Company and Samsung Engineering NEC Co. Ltd., and Philippines’ EEI Corp. for a 500-person capacity training facility in the country.

The Palace said this MOU involves the construction of an export services facility amounting to $120 million. Arab business leaders, meanwhile, committed $4.14 to the country — bringing the total investment pledges to $4.26 billion.

The construction of the facility aims to "upskill Filipino employees in various professions in the construction industry."

"The facility aims to train 3,000 Filipinos a year, with more than 15,000 Filipinos in the next 5 years ready for deployment with their newfound skills," he said.

Marcos, Jr. said the trade department also reported 3 business-to-business agreements discussed among Saudi and Philippine human resource companies for the training and employment of Filipinos in various industries.

This includes healthcare, hotel and restaurant, and maintenance and operations.

"These agreements are expected to generate more than $4.2 billion and additional 20,000 jobs for Filipinos over the next few years," he said.

Aside from this, the President said he raised to the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) the safeguarding of the rights and upskilling of over 2 million migrant Filipino workers working in the GCC countries.

Aside from this, the President said the Summit served as a platform to call for peace in Israel and Gaza, as well as the safety of civilians in accordance with international, humanitarian law.

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