Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega was one of the Keynote Speakers at a virtual session on “Europe, Asia and the World – Global Politics and Business 2020 – Following the Course of the Sun” organized by the German Global Trade Forum Berlin on 25 August 2020.

Over forty persons attended the online session and aside from Ambassador Dizon-De Vega, resource persons from Thailand, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Italy, and the McArthur Foundation also shared their views on the way forward for Europe and Asia in a post-pandemic scenario.

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega gave an overview of how the Philippines is coping with the pandemic and balancing public health concerns with efforts to re-build the economy. She outlined the macroeconomic picture emphasizing the sound economic and monetary fundamentals of the Philippines as well as efforts to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable sectors and industries.

She likewise mentioned the efforts of government to rapidly resume work on infrastructure projects under the flagship Build Build Build program and the bright spots which are emerging ranging from growth in the agricultural sector, the end of a months-long remittances drop, the upgrading and maintenance of the Philippines’ credit ratings, and improvements starting in June in the manufacturing, export, and import sectors.

The Philippines also assured the session of its continued efforts to promote an atmosphere of openness and cooperation with the global economic community at this challenging time, citing its active engagement in ASEAN, the WTO, and APEC, among others.

On the bilateral side, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega enumerated efforts to remain engaged with the Philippines’ German partners both in the public and private spheres. She noted that the Philippines and Germany are set to convene the inaugural meeting of the Joint Economic Committee this year to further economic activities between our two countries. She also outlines areas of possible cooperation in innovation, digitization, COVID-19 cooperation, construction and infrastructure, power and energy, aviation, technical-vocation education and training, and human resources.

The Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Berlin (PTIC) was likewise represented at the virtual session. END