BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi (Mindanews/21 June)—Filipino and Malaysian businessmen have forged joint ventures in tourism and employment during the two-day 1st Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) International Business Conference last June 17-18 here.
The Tawi-Tawi Divers Club and the AS SAAH Picasso International Sdn, Bhd agreed to promote friendly relationships and to strengthen common cultural heritage, while the Mahardika Institute of Technology, Inc. (MITI) and Agensi Pekerjaan Pimpinan Murni Sdn Bhd agreed on the deployment of Filipino workers to Malaysia.
The Tawi-Tawi Divers Club is engaged in the protection and conservation of marine resources and dive sites in the province through diving programs while the AS SAAH Picasso International is engaged in the tourism business in Kuala Lumpur.
Under their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the divers’ club will provide travel assistance to tourists from Malaysia especially in dive tour activities in Tawi-Tawi while the Kuala Lumpur-based tourism firm will facilitate the documentation of visiting tourists.
The signatories to the MoU were Tawi-Tawi Divers Club president Engr. Rosendo Reyes and AS SAAH Picasso International managing director Hamali Rahmat.
Under the MoU of MITI and Agensi Pekerjaan, the former will train and screen applicants and assist in the documentation of their travel documents while the latter will facilitate the documentary requirements of Filipino applicants to work in Malaysia and their deployment to employers.
The MOU signatories were MITI Engr. Sambas Hassan and Agensi Pekerjaan executive chairman Dato Naufal Jumadil.
The MOU signings were witnessed by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Tawi-Tawi provincial director Nazrullah Masahud, Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president for external affairs Prof. Romeo Taup and Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area Business Council-Malaysia chairman Datuk Roselan Joahr Mohammad.
DTI-ARMM Secretary Sakiran Hajan said the objective of the business conference, which is to showcase the business potential of the ARMM, “was realized within the two-day conference.”
“The business matching yielded positive results,” Hajan said.
The two-day business conference was themed “Strengthening Public-Private Partnership towards economic stability in ARMM.”
It was attended by at least 500 local and foreign business as well as tourism stakeholders. (MindaNews)
