The Philippines President Rodrigo R Duterte is expected to visit Qatar in the first half of 2017, thus bolstering relations between the two countries, according to the Philippines’ Ambassador to Qatar Wilfredo C Santos.

The ambassador said they were preparing for a visit by Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr, which in turn will be the first step for a presidential visit, reported The Peninsula.

“There’re plans for the President to visit Qatar. In fact, we received instructions to prepare for the visit of Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay this month to lay the groundwork for the visit of the President either in the first or second quarter of next year,” the envoy was quoted as saying.

The last Philippine president to visit Qatar was Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, way back in 2008. The Father Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had visited the Philippines in April, 2012.

“It has been four years since that last high level visit between our two countries. It’s time for our President to visit Qatar,” he said.

The president’s visit is expected to bolster relations between the two countries. Experts also expect the two nations to sign a slew of mutually beneficial agreements.

The ambassador also revealed plans to relocate the Philippines Embassy to a bigger facility in the coming days.

“We’ve plans to transfer to a bigger area with one or two buildings to house all the agencies represented in the Philippine Embassy,” he said. The embassy has already found a piece of land and negotiations are ongoing with the owner to build two buildings with sufficient parking space.