The governments of the Philippines and Qatar are to set up an investment fund worth more than $1 billion, cabinet officials in Manila said Wednesday. The fund was announced during a meeting between President Gloria Arroyo and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani last weekend. Qatar will put $860 million into the fund while the Philippine government will contribute $150 million, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Wednesday. Favila said the government outlined a series of infrastructure and investment prospects to the Qatar Investment Authority during Arroyo's visit last weekend. He said Qatar is to send a team to carry out its due diligence within the first quarter of 2009. “The Qatari leader expressed his hope that the agreement for the investment fund could be completed in the first quarter of 2009,” Favila said. He said the Qataris were interested in “food, agriculture and fisheries, telecommunications and power, banking and real estate.” Among the proposals is the leasing of agricultural land in the Philippines to grow food crops for Qatar and marine culture projects. On Monday, Singapore and the six GCC countries signed a free trade agreement that will pave the way for greater two-way economic ties, the Singaporean government said. Under the terms of the agreement, about 99 percent of Singapore's domestic exports will get tariff-free access to the GCC economies, the ministry said in the statement. All exports of goods from the GCC to Singapore will also be tariff
