President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is hopeful the Philippines could successfully partner with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) as the country explores the possible use of nuclear energy for power generation.
President Marcos received Mohamed Al Hammadi, chairman and chief executive officer of ENEC, in a courtesy call in Malacañang Monday.
“Thank you very much. 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,” President Marcos told Hammadi.
“And this had become a very high priority topic. I hope we can find ways to help each other in this,” he added.
First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos headed the Philippine delegation consisting of Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, Benito Techico, Rafael Consing, and Ambassador Alfonso Ver to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a meeting with ENEC from June 27-29, 2024.
Cojuangco, who has been a staunch proponent of nuclear energy, reiterated his pitch to restore the Philippine nuclear plant with the UAE side as a strategic partner.
During the meeting, Cojuangco and Hamadi reported to the First Lady that they had sent an invitation to the President to join the International Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy – 2024 Objectives at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this September.
The First Lady said she will take this up with the President, adding that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is currently consolidating inputs from concerned agencies regarding the Philippines’ possible participation.
The International Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy calls for the tripling of global nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
Around 1,000 Filipinos are working in UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
Last May, representatives from the Board of Investments met with UAE companies to discuss possible investment opportunities in the Philippines, particularly those relating to clean energy. | PND
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