AHG discusses investment opportunities with delegations from Australia & the Philippines

Press release

Published October 4th, 2012 - 06:31 GMT

Mohammed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, Managing Director, Al Habtoor Group and Edwin Gil Q Mendoza, Acting Consul General of the Philippines and Gregory L Domingo, Secretary from the Philippine Department of Trade & Industry

The Chairman of Al Habtoor Group, Khalaf Al Habtoor, welcomed a delegation from Australia at the Group’s head office on Tuesday October 2, 2012.

Officials included His Excellency Pablo Kang, the Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Gerard Seeber, the Australian Consul-General in Dubai. Executives from the Al Habtoor Group included Mohammed Al Habtoor, Vice Chairman and CEO; Paul Rayner, Advisor to the Chairman; Laurie Voyer, CEO and Managing Director, Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG); Chris Gordon, Group General Manager, Strategy & Corporate Affairs, Habtoor Leighton Group.

The meeting was to discuss further collaboration and potential business opportunities. Earlier this year Dubai announced at strategic partnership with the Australia Gulf Council (AGC) aimed at promoting and facilitating trade, investments and other opportunities between the two countries.

Khalaf Al Habtoor said, “Australia and Dubai already have strong links and we at the Al Habtoor Group have a good relationship with the country following Al Habtoor Engineering’s merger with Leighton Holding. We are always on the lookout for sound investments.”

Separately, senior executives from the Al Habtoor Group met with top Philippine officials to discuss investment opportunities. Mohammed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, Managing Director, Al Habtoor Group and Maan Halabi, Executive Director, Al Habtoor Group welcomed Edwin Gil Q Mendoza, Acting Consul General of the Philippines and Gregory L Domingo, Ministry of Trade & Industry who was on a visit from Manila.

The meeting was aimed at exploring the possibility for the Al Habtoor Group to invest in the Philippines; with particular focus on the tourism sector.

Mr. Al Mazrooei said, “The Philippines is an emerging economy with considerable growth even as advanced economies remained weak. The hospitality sector offers a lot of potential.”

He added, “The Philippine Government is negotiating with the Aviation authorities in the Gulf, particularly Emirates and Etihad airlines, to increase the frequency of flights between the UAE and the Philippines; a move that would increase air traffic between the two countries considerably.”

The Philippine economy grew 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 and the Government is targeting 5-6 per cent for the full year.

Background Information

Al Habtoor Group

The Al Habtoor Group has grown with the United Arab Emirates. What started out as a small engineering firm in 1970, is today one of the region’s most respected conglomerates with interests in the hospitality, automotive, real estate, education and publishing sectors. The Al Habtoor Group has earned itself a solid reputation both locally and internationally due to the vision of its Chairman, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor.