Duterte to visit Kuwait next month

President Duterte is set to visit Kuwait next month after the Philabuse ippines and the gulf state resolved their diplomatic row over alleged of Filipino household service workers there.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano discussed the President’s visit with Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah during their meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Kuwait-based media said the visit would take place in mid-October, adding a new Philippines ambassador to Kuwait would be nominated before Duterte’s visit.

Although the visit was expected to take place this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has yet to finalize it.

“Foreign Minister Al-Sabah told Secretary Cayetano they are looking forward to the President’s visit,” DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato told The STAR.

Apart from Duterte’s upcoming visit to Kuwait, the two top diplomats also talked about the peace process in Mindanao and possible trade and investment opportunities for the Kuwait private sector in the region.

“We had a very warm and productive discussion and both of us are convinced that while bilateral relations are stronger than ever, we should not stop there. We both agreed to continue creating the right environment to further strengthen these ties,” Cayetano said in a statement.

He thanked Al-Sabah for his offer to provide development assistance for Mindanao through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, where he serves as chairman.

He also expressed appreciation for the amnesty program that paved the way for the repatriation of more than 5,000 undocumented Filipinos.

Over 255,000 Filipinos are working in Kuwait, most of them domestic helpers.

Duterte has ordered a total deployment ban on workers to Kuwait following the discovery of the body of 29-year-old Filipina domestic helper Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment.

A diplomatic crisis between the two countries began after a video showing the controversial rescue of Filipino migrant workers from their employers’ homes was uploaded on social media.