Manila, 18 August 2022 (TDI): The Philippines Foreign Minister, Enrique Manalo, met with the Ambassador of Oman, Munther Mahfood Al Mantheri, to bid farewell. Oman’s Ambassador to the Philippines has served in the Philippines since 2014.
📸 #مانيلا | معالي إنريكي مانالو وزير الخارجية الفلبيني يستقبل سعادة منذر بن محفوظ المنذري للتوديع بمناسبة انتهاء فترة مهام عمله سفيراً معتمداً لسلطنة عُمان لدى جمهورية #الفلبين. pic.twitter.com/EUqpSXKi1G
— وزارة الخارجية (@FMofOman) August 17, 2022
The Foreign Minister thanked the Omani Ambassador for working closely with the Foreign Ministry of the Philippines to enhance the bilateral relations between Oman and the Philippines. He also thanked him for contributing to the economic cooperation between the two countries during his term of office.
We offer our best wishes to Omani Ambassador Munther Mahfoodh Al Mantheri as he completes his tour of duty this month. Since he became Ambassador to PH in 2014, Amb Al Mantheri has been a good friend, working closely w/ the DFA in strengthening PH-Oman ties & economic cooperation pic.twitter.com/ESDo9LkQDm
— Enrique A. Manalo 🇵🇭 (@SecManalo) August 17, 2022
Diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Oman
The Philippines and Oman established bilateral relations on 6 October 1980. At that time, very few Philipinos lived in Oman, approximately 1,000-2,000.
However, it was only until 1988 that Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali was appointed as the first Philippine Honorary Consul General in Muscat. Furthermore, in 2020, Oman and the Philippines celebrated 40 years of bilateral relations.
It was during his tenure in the Philippines that Omani Air started to fly daily between Muscat and Manila. Consequently, there has been an increase in people-to-people exchanges as well as in trade and commerce.
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Furthermore, in 2019, goods worth $85 million were exchanged between the two countries. The two countries have also held many informal and formal consultation meetings. For example, the 2nd Informal Consultation meeting in 2014 and the 4th Philippines-Oman Bilateral consultation meeting in April 2022.
