Marcos hopeful on partnership with UAE nuclear energy firm

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) chair Mohamed Al Hammadi pays President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a courtesy call at Malacañang on Monday, August 12. | Photo from PCO

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said he is hoping to establish a mutually beneficial partnership with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) as the country tackles the potential use of nuclear energy.

Marcos made the pronouncement during a meeting with ENEC chairman and chief executive officer Mohamed Al Hammadi, who paid a courtesy call on the former in Malacañang on Monday afternoon.

“I’m glad that we had this chance… for you to visit us. Because this is a subject that we have been talking about for a long time. And especially after the pandemic, I’m trying to figure out what are the needs of the government,” Marcos said in welcoming Hammadi.

“And this has become a very high priority topic. I hope we can find ways to help each other in this,” he added.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) in a statement, Hammadi paid Marcos a courtesy call after First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos led the Philippine delegation — Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, Benito Techico, Rafael Consing, and Ambassador Alfonso Ver — in a meeting with ENEC from June 27 to 29, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates.

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During the meeting, Cojuangco and Hamadi said that they had already sent an invitation to President Marcos to join the International Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy – 2024 Objectives at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this September.

Liza, for her part, committed to discuss the invitation with the President, explaining that the Department of Foreign Affairs is already “consolidating inputs from concerned agencies regarding the Philippines’ possible participation.”