The Philippine Embassy in Berlin

GERMAN INVESTORS IMPRESSED BY THE PHILIPPINES’ ECONOMIC AND GOVERNANCE GAINS

DoF Secretary Purisima addresses Deutsche Bank Roundtable.
Meets with DB Co-CEO Juergen Fitschen

Frankfurt.  The Philippine government continued its strong push to aggressively engage EU and German investors, as Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima visited Germany.  On 9 September 2013, Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen welcomed Secretary Purisima to Frankfurt to attend a Deutsche Bank (DB) organized roundtable with major fund and investment managers.

Deutsche Bank officials were impressed by the Philippines’ sustained economic growth and strong macroeconomic fundamentals.  Secretary Purisima highlighted to co-CEO Fitschen the strong upside potential of the Philippine economy, particularly the institutionalization of growth through good government and the strength of its people, who he views as ASEAN’s most mobile and adaptable people.

Co-CEO Fitschen noted Deutsche Bank’s solid relationship with the Philippines, particularly in arranging successful bond issuances and through the operations of its Deutsche Knowledge Services (DKS) unit.  Mr. Fitschen welcomed the government’s strong focus on good governance and emphasized that German investors are swayed by two main factors: the presence of reliable and efficient institutions and the rule of law.  Given his own personal experience, Mr. Fitschen hoped that the Philippines would devote more energy and resources in selling its success story to international investors.
During the investor roundtabls, Secretary Purisima emphasized that the Philippines is in a unique position of having alignment between political leadership, public mandate, and economic conditions. While current growth is consumption driven, Secretary Purisima emphasized that growth could exceed 7 or 8% on a sustained basis as infrastructure, foreign direct investments, export growth, and tourist arrivals pick up pace.  The participants expressed particular interest in hearing how the government is addressing bottlenecks in infrastructure and in realizing equitable economic development.  Sec. Purisima noted that the government is proactively addressing these issues by steadily increasing the share of infrastructure under the fiscal budget and through the public-private partnership (PPP) program.  The PPP program, involving major airport and public transportation projects, has drawn significant local and foreign investor interest.  The Philippines recently launched the USD 625 million Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure Fund (PINAI) with Australia’s Macquarie Group and the Netherlands’ APG and is also a shareholder in the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund.  The government has also placed education and public health at the top of its agenda, including through the quadrupling of the conditional cash transfer program and efforts at realizing universal healthcare.  – END –

PHILIPPINES LIGHTS UP BERLIN SKIES, WINS 2013 PYRONALE FIREWORKS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Berlin.  The Philippines, represented by Dragon Fireworks, Inc., won the 2013 edition of the Pyronale Fireworks World Championships at the Berlin Olympic Stadium on 7 September 2013.  The gold medal winning effort, entitled “Philippines – Here Comes the Dragon” won plaudits from the thousands present, who also gave the team the audience award for the evening.  The Philippine team’s choreographed performance included songs from Angeline Quinto (“Piliin Mo ang Pilipinas”), Carol Banawa (“Tanging Yaman”), and the Tinikling folk dance.  Remarkably, the performance was designed by Mr. Vander Tenedero, a 20-year old business student.

Prior to their performance, the team, led by Mr. Jovenson Ong and Don Miguel Villarosa, paid a courtesy call on Ambassador Maria Cleofe R. Natividad at the Philippine Embassy.  Ambassador Natividad welcomed the initiative and entrepreneurial spirit of Dragon Fireworks, which has the ambitious goal of entering the European market.

The following is the composition of the Dragon Fireworks Inc. team:

• Mr. Jovenson Ong,  Managing Director of Dragon Fireworks, Inc.;
• Mr. Hans Emerson Ong, Technical Director of Dragon Fireworks, Inc.;
• Mr. Vander Tenedero, Designer of show;
• Mr. Don Miguel Villarosa, Designer of show;
• Mr. John Oliver Zeng, Chief Pyrotechnician; and
• Mr. Joseph Veloso, Lead Pyrotechnican.

Since 1992, Dragon Fireworks has established itself as the Philippines’ trusted name in providing world class pyrotechnics.  With an unyielding commitment to product excellence, quality beyond the highest standards and uncompromising safety for the Filipino consumers,  Dragon Fireworks has grown to become the largest fireworks manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer of professional display and consumer fireworks, as well as the only ISO 9001:2008 certified fireworks manufacturer in ASEAN. END

Berlin PE Launches Language Book and Mobile Phone App “Pinoy Ako”

Philippine Embassy in Berlin Launches Language Book and Mobile Phone App “Pinoy Ako” to Celebrate “Buwan ng Wika”

 

29 August, 2013 Berlin – Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Cleofe R. Natividad led the celebration of the “Buwan ng Wika” at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin through the launching of Filipino language books of Dr. Rey Agana and a Filipino language app for mobile phones called “Pinoy-Ako”.

 

In her welcome remarks, Ambassador Natividad speaking in both Filipino and English languages, reflected on the relevance of the theme “Wika Natin ang Daang Matuwid” in the celebration of the language month.

 

 

“The theme of this year’s celebration is particularly relevant and resonates well: “Wika Natin ang Daang Matuwid”. The theme is timely and apt – a few days ago, there was a million-strong people’s march against corruption in Manila.” She quoted from the speech of President Benigno S. Aquino III during the recent “Pambansang Kongreso ng Wika” and stressed the inherent value of the national language in achieving national goals of justice and peace, inclusive growth, and sustainable development.

 

The Ambassador also spoke on the role of language in strengthening ties among peoples: “Here in Berlin, I salute the efforts of Dr. Rey Agana in popularizing the Philippine language and finding innovative ways to spread its use, using different media: from formal classes at the Humboldt University, to publication of Filipino language books, and to Filipino-German dictionary apps for mobile phones.”
Prof. Dr. Vincent Houben, Chair of the Department  of Southeast Asian History and Society at the Humboldt University in Berlin, also delivered his remarks on the importance of language in area studies during the book launch.

Ms. Eva Streifeneder of the Regiospectra Publishing House was also present during the event to support the book launch. Her team also made available copies of the Tagalog 1 and 2 books.

During the formal book launch,  Dr. Rey Agana, who holds a doctorate degree in Semiotics from the  Technische Universität Berlin, also gave remarks on the politics of language,  his experience in teaching Tagalog at the Humboldt University, and his current and future work on the language books and apps.

The books (Tagalog 1 – Konversationkurs für Anfänger; Tagalog 2 – Lese- und Schreibkurs für Anfänger [Conversation Course for Beginners – Reading and Writing Course]) are available at the following website www.regiospectra.de . The mobile phone app “Pinoy Ako”, developed by Mr. Kevin Klein, is a German to Tagalog dictionary that translates words from both languages. It can be downloaded for free and can be easily installed in mobile phones. END

Email Fraud Recovery: Philippine Embassy Assists in REturn of USD33,000 to German Company

20 August 2013, Berlin –  The furniture trading company Escoba GmbH from Falkensee near Berlin had almost lost all hopes of recovering some $33,000 USD that an e-mail defrauder managed to extract from them.  But the  joint efforts of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin and the Department of Foreign Affairs paid off.  In the end, the full amount was returned to the company.

The e-mail defrauder was able to access the E-mail account of Escoba GmbH’s Asian supplier and carried out a fake correspondence with Escoba GmbH over the delivery of an order of upholstered furniture placed in two containers.

It was made to appear to Escoba GmbH that the delivery of the ordered furniture would be delayed because the supplier was not able to pay a debt to its supplier of raw materials.  The request was made for a down payment to the supplier of raw materials in the Philippines.  For this purpose, a bank account in the Philippines was specified to receive the down payment.

It was a nightmare for Mr. Cimalettin Yilmaz, CEO of Escoba GmbH, to find out from his Asian supplier, after making the payment in June 2013, that the down payment request was a fake one. While Escoba GmbH considered the amount a total loss, a helpful business colleague from Hannover pursued the idea of approaching the Philippine Embassy in Berlin and requesting its assistance.

Ambassador Maria Cleofe R. Natividad promised the Embassy’s support and reported the matter to the Philippine bank that received the amount, explaining the facts surrounding the money transfer and requesting that the transaction be reversed.  The Embassy also referred the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs for proper endorsement to the concerned Philippine authorities.

The Philippine bank cooperated, and before the amount could be withdrawn, the bank secured the transferred amount.  After confirming the incident, it sent the full amount back to Escoba GmbH, which confirmed receipt in early August.

The spectacular recovery could not have happened without the assistance of the Embassy, the Philippine authorities and the Philippine bank.  As authorities in Berlin confirmed to Escoba GmbH, there are hardly any fraud cases of this nature where the German victims are able to recover their money.

In keeping with the Department’s spirit of public service, the Embassy went an extra mile to help address the fraud perpetrated against the businessman and to promote the Philippines as an investor-friendly location which respects the rule of law. The Embassy’s support to Escoba GmbH, a German company, is part of its efforts in creating goodwill and enhancing business confidence in the Philippines.   (END)

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CONTACT US

Luisenstrasse 16, 10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 864 95 00
info@philippine-embassy.de
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Philippine Migrant Workers Office (MWO)

For OEC and Verification of Employment Contracts of Balik-Manggagawa in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Russia:

Mobile: +49 17681317465 (WhatsApp);
email: mwo.germanyoec@gmail.com

For accreditation of Agency and Direct Hires in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Russia:

Mobile: +49 15229021623 (WhatsApp/Viber)
email: germany@mwoberlin.com

For OWWA membership, welfare, and labor case assistance:

Mobile: +49 152 2823 8085 (WhatsApp)
email: owwamemb@gmail.com; mwo_berlin@dmw.gov.ph

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