AUTHENTICATION
12 February 2014 – The Philippines and Oman held the 2nd Philippines-Oman Informal Bilateral Consultations (IBC) at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on February 04.
Discussed were issues of mutual concern, such as the status of pending bilateral agreements and prospective areas of future cooperation.
The Philippine delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus I. Yabes, opened the meeting by welcoming the Omani delegates led by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ahmed bin Yousef Al-Harthy. Undersecretary Yabes express the hope that the discussions would pave the way for greater Philippines-Oman economic activities.
Although the Sultanate is host to around 33,000 Filipinos, its trade relations with the Philippines have been in need of a boost. During the Consultations, both sides agreed that economic cooperation is a cornerstone of bilateral relations and should be promoted. To address this, the Omani side recommended the exchange of visits between the private sectors of both countries to take advantage of opportunities present in the two countries. They also recommended that Philippine universities participate in an educational exhibition in Muscat to encourage thousands of Omani government scholars to pursue higher education in the Philippines.
The IBC concluded with the signing of the Philippines-Oman Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Consultations, which creates a formal mechanism that will convene regularly to expand bilateral cooperation in political, economic, cultural, technological, scientific and educational matters. END
OFFICE OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS 
