DUBAI: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will aggressively be promoting the Philippines in the United Arab Emirates as the countdown to the much awaited global fair, Expo 2020, begins.
At the center of this investment campaign is the Philippine Pavilion, the construction of which is expected to begin by next month, according to DTI’s Commercial Attaché Charmaine Yalong.
“As you know we have the Philippine pavilion and it will be the anchor of all our activities in Dubai and the Middle East for the next 12 to 14 months,” Yalong told The Filipino Times.
“But I think more important also is for us to know that around this Philippine Pavilion, we will have a number of activities. We have actually started this month with this outbound business matching mission,” she added, referring to the business-to-business meeting held Sept. 15 at Novotel Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) ahead of INDEX Dubai, reputed as the largest gathering for the design community in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region and is part of the Middle East Design and Hospitality Week (MEDHW) 2019. The event was held Sept 17 to 19 also at DWTC.
“In the next few months we will have several business missions representing different sectors. For example, in October we will have a delegation from the franchising sector and in November, we wil have a delegation from the food sector,” said Yalong.
“So, I think the most important thing a about this is we are really trying to envigorate, really improve and increase the number of trade and investment opportunities in the UAE for the Philippines,” she added.
Expo 2020 will be held from Oct. 20, 2020 till April 10, 2021. Organizers said 192 countries will be participating at the event that is expected to draw 25 million people, of which 70% will be from overseas.
“It is a very big opportunity to showcase the Philippines. Organizers said this will be the most business-oriented in the history of the World Expo,” said Yalong.
“We have just bidded out the construction and design of the pavilion. So, hopefully within the month ,we can move and next month we can start construction,” she added.
