BERLIN—The Philippine Embassy in Berlin, led by Ambassador to Germany Maria Theresa Dizon-de Vega, pushed for closer cooperation with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg during her February 17 visit to the northern German city-state.
Dizon-de Vega met with the Hamburg governments External Relations Chief and State Secretary Almut Möller, as well as International Affairs Director General Corinna Nienstedt at the Hamburg City Hall.
The ambassador conveyed the embassy’s appreciation for the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere provided by the people and government of Hamburg to more than 1,000 Filipinos living in the city-state, as well as to the thousands of Filipino seafarers working on international vessels calling at its port—the second-busiest after Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Möller welcomed the Philippine Embassy’s initiative of meeting with city-state officials and assured the ambassador of the Hamburg government’s support for efforts to broaden cooperation. She said that as a trading city, Hamburg has always actively sought and will continue to seek external partnerships.
The state secretary expressed particular interest in the fields of innovation and new technology in the Philippines. The Filipino envoy, for her part, appraised Hamburg officials of positive developments in the Philippines, such as the newly enacted start-ups law, the country’s steady rise in the Global Innovation Index, as well as the embassy’s already active engagement with the city-state’s business sector.
Hamburg is home to Germany’s largest port and is considered as the country’s gateway to the world. European aircraft company Airbus also has a manufacturing facility there, which is the primary supplier of single-aisle passenger aircraft used by Philippine carriers.
The two sides are also looking into a possible embassy participation in Hamburg’s major cultural events and similar activities. Dizon-de Vega also discussed possible Philippine participation in Hamburg’s gender and diversity programs, as well as in efforts to enhance economic activity.
In addition to government-to-government ties, the embassy is also working on enhancing its relations with Hamburg’s academic community.
The ambassador and Philippine Studies expert, Prof. Dr. Elsa Clavé of the University of Hamburg’s Institute of Asian and Africa studies, discussed the plan to come up with student prizes for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral theses on the Philippines, a proposed memorandum of understanding on academic exchanges with the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and an immersion program for Filipino language students to be hosted by academic institutions outside Metro Manila.
The professor also expressed willingness to arrange Filipino film screenings in the university, with films to be provided by the embassy, and to assign resource speakers for post-arrival orientation seminars with new Filipino migrants together with the embassy. She received a copy of Discovering Dayaw, a book by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda based on her National Commission for Culture and the Arts television series on Philippine culture. The book will form part of the Philippine collection of the Institute.
Dizon-de Vega also had the opportunity to visit the Archdiocese of Hamburg’s Seafarers’ Mission, better known as Stella Maris-Hamburg. DFA
Image credits: Berlin PE/DFA