Fresh from celebrating its first anniversary, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Berlin hosted a webinar entitled “Work and Life in Germany: Practical Tips” to give Filipino nurses newly arrived in Germany or intending to come to Germany the opportunity to learn from Filipino nurses who have been living and working in Germany for several years.

The webinar moderated by Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz featured as resource persons Mr Jimmy Carpon, who teaches at the Ecumenical institute for Nursing Professions in Ortenau (OEKI) and was among the first Filipino nurses deployed to Germany under the Triple Win Project (TWP) and a Bagong Bayani award recipient; and Ms Regille Tayamen a surgical nurse at Sankt Gertrauden Krankenhaus (SGK) Berlin. Mr Carpon’s presentation focused more on the work setting, while Ms Tayamen’s focused on life outside of work. A third resource person was Mr. Matthias Gerloff, a trainer for international nurses at the Uniklinikum Tübingen, who, in conversation with Consul Cathy Torres, offered a German perspective on the topic of Filipino nurses’ integration in Germany.

Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega in her welcome message read by Consul Torres congratulated POLO-Berlin for the initiative and thanked all the speakers and participants for joining what is envisioned to be an ongoing series of focused engagement with Filipino healthcare professionals in Germany.

The webinar was livestreamed on the Facebook page of the Philippine Embassy in Germany and may be viewed there by those interested. END

Twelve Ambassadors from the Asia-Pacific region, including nine Ambassadors from ASEAN took part in an Economic Mission to the Germany state of Rhineland Palatinate from 17-19 September 2020.

The Mission coordinated by the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV), one of the oldest business groups in Germany with the Asia-Pacific Ambassadors Group was designed to provide opportunities for closer engagement among countries in the Asia-Pacific region and leading companies in Germany.

The activity dubbed “Ambassadors-in-Dialogue” hopes to contribute to efforts to encourage more economic exchanges between Germany and the Asia-Pacific Region as well as foster an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation as the world rebuilds the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the companies visited by the Mission in Rhineland Palatinate, a major manufacturing and viniculture hub in Germany, included leading pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, organic wine cultivator Weingut Dreissigacker, Strassburger Filter GmbH + Co. KG, and one of the largest and older glass manufacturers in the world, Schott AG.

The delegation likewise met with scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry, one of the leading scientific research centers of the world which has produced several Nobel Prize winners and is now undertaking pioneering work on face mask and particle filtration studies.