A FEW weeks back, European Union (EU) Ambassador Franz Jessen, in a BusinessMirror Coffee Club session, lauded the newspaper in its efforts to highlight the embassies and the diplomatic community in the Philippines, through their various chambers of commerce and industry such as the ECCP.
Jessen was pertaining to the BusinessMirror’s Mission: PHL Envoys&Expats Awards, which will recognize countries and development aid agencies that have been actively participating in the growth and development thrusts of the country.
The ambassador said, “It is a good initiative of your company. We will actively support Mission: PHL in the [EU] Delegation’s capacity by joining the Project of the Year recognition that will put the spotlight on our many endeavors as a participant in the Philippines’s continuing thrust as a well-developed country.”
He was referring to the following projects nominated by the embassy of the EU: Access to Sustainable Energy Program (or Asep; related story on page 2: EU, DOE energize off-grid Mindanao households); Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in the Asean Project; Establishment of Model Recovery Clinics (Voluntary Outpatient-Based Medical Treatment Facilities for Drug Users); Spaces for Peace: Strengthening the Protection of Children in the Province of Maguindanao; Strengthening Civil Society Participation in Social Enterprise Education and Development; and the Zero-Carbon Resorts toward Sustainable Development of the Tourism Sector in the Philippines and Thailand.