THE visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Israel is set on September 2 as announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that will be “historical,” said Israel Ambassador to the Philippines, Effie Ben Matityau.
“I must say that this is going to be a historical visit since this is going to be the very first time that the sitting President of the Philippines is visiting Israel,” Matityau said in an interview on Wednesday, August 15, at the Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City.
He also said they expect to have a long range of issues starting with defense since Israel is a “very” close ally of the Philippines. Other issues revolve on partnerships and joint ventures in technology and investments.
“Israel is basically the high-tech environment so we would like to match between your very sophisticated business community and our very sophisticated technological environment,” Matityau said, adding that it is to create a new partnership that is going to benefit all because Israel’s economy is a complimentary economy to the Philippines so the two countries have no competition.
Matityau also discussed the Bilateral Labor Agreement that will include regulations on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel to be paid reasonable wages and benefits.
“We are going to create a much better receptive environment for OFWs who are paying great amounts to agencies,” he said.
The DFA announced last August 13 that the official visit slated September 2 to 5 will be the first by a Philippine President since diplomatic ties were established between the two countries 61 years ago in 1957.