VIDEO: Philippines pavilion announces its readiness to receive visitors

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

As Expo 2020 Dubai eagerly waits to bring together the world under the common banner of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (PDTI) officially declared the 100 per cent completion of its ‘Bangkota’ pavilion.

The over 125 million Filipinos across the globe and among the most adventurous in the world shall be represented by the “Bangkota”  at the much-anticipated Expo 2020 Dubai starting Oct. 1 (Friday).

“We are immeasurably proud to announce that our very own ‘Bangkota’ pavilion is now more than ready to welcome millions of visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability District. Its completion bears witness to the ‘bayanihan’ that transpired amongst dedicated teams, both from the Philippines and the UAE, in order to bring this enormous endeavour true to the vision of the Philippine government into life,” said Manila’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Trade Promotions Assistant Secretary Rosario Virginia Gaetos in a press statement on Sunday.

The official announcement of the Philippine participation at the landmark World Exposition in the Middle East, Africa and South  Asia, was on June 11, 2019. That was when the DTI, headed by Secretary Ramon Lopez and chosen by the Duterte Administration as the team lead, invited a select group of Lifestyle editors of Metro Manila-based English daily newspapers who were the first to get a sneak preview of how the “Bangkota” would look like at the 3,000 square-metre (sqm) space within the Sustainability Zone.

“Bangkota” is the ancient Tagalog dialect word for coral reef. Bayanihan, also from Tagalog, among the three widest-spoken languages in the 7,107-island archipelago of 175 languages, means unity and cooperation despite diversity.

The Southeast Asian country has been a participant of the global event--organised by the Bureau International des Expositions since 1851--at least six times. For its UAE presence, the team decided to represent the Philippines’ and the Filipinos’ heritage towards the future by way of the coral reef as through centuries, they thrive, acclimatise, grow and even become influencers wherever they are.

Meanwhile, alongside Sunday’s Gaetos’ announcement came the flow of an over two-minute video  over the Facebook account of the Filipino Social Club (Filsoc) of UAE-born children--either of Filipino parentage or of mixed race--announcing the official opening of the “Bangkota” on Oct. 1 (Friday).

In a telephone interview, Filsoc president Ericson Reyes said the “I AM BANGKOTA-IPAGMALAKI ANG PILIPINAS (BE PROUD OF THE PHILIPPINES), “ which has so far been viewed and shared 41 times as of 5:25 p.m. on Sunday, is one of the strategies to promote both the Philippines and the Expo2020Dubai. The UAE-based and accredited Filipino organisation is the community partner of the DTI throughout the six-month affair. As such and among its contributions, its chorale shall be among the featured at the Oct. 1 grand ceremonies, shall be responsible for the Philippine National Day in February as it is also the Philippine representative at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Day. Plans for town halls for children and the youth have been pipeline-d as well.

Philippine Business Council-Dubai and the Northern Emirates chairman Bobbie Carella was positive that visitors to the pavilion of 1,300 sqm enclosed area, would get to know the Filipino diaspora spanning over 4,000 years, by way of several digital campaigns and mini on ground acitivities.

On Sunday, Philippine Commercial Attache to the Middle East/Philippine Trade and Investment Centre (UAE) chief Charmaine Mignon Yalong said: “Our participation at Expo2020Dubai will bolster the efforts of the Philippine government in attracting foreign investments and exporting quality products and services. With this vision, we have prepared an entire calendar of business-to-business events for the next six months which will highlight the majority of the Philippines’ strongest industries.” She expressed hope that “significant commercial opportunities” would be forged and realised: “We foresee that there will be more employment opportunities back home especially within the service sectors like travel, tourism, retail, events, hospitality, construction, Information Communications Technology, and logistics.”

According to Yalong, Philippines-UAE 2020 trade was at $705.9 million (Dhs2,592,770,700.00) with exports at $278.34 million (Dhs1,022,342,820.00) and imports at $427.52 million (Dhs1,570,280,960.00). Top Philippine exports were bananas, pineapples, storage units and static converters. Top commodity imports from the UAE were light petroleum oils and preparations, butanes, propane, petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals, and generating sets with compression-ignition.   

Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) Commercial Attaché Charmaine Mignon Yalong stated, “Our participation at Expo 2020 will bolster the efforts of the Philippine government in attracting foreign investments and exporting of our top-quality products and services.  With this vision, we have prepared an entire calendar of business-to-business events for the next six months which will highlight the majority of the Philippines’ strongest industries.”