The Philippines highlighted at the 45th St Gallen Symposium
The Philippines showed why it is really more fun in the Philippines at the 45th St Gallen Symposium held from 6 to 8 May in the Swiss city of St Gallen. The highlight of this annual symposium was the Philippines’ Dinner Night on 7 May which featured the best of Philippine cuisine and culture.
Usec. Bengzon welcomes guests to the Philippine Dinner Night
Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon, representing Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez and Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Leslie Baja, welcomed more than 350 guests to the dinner led by no less than the Prime Minister of Iceland, and dozens of international business executives attending the symposium. The guests were feted to dinner prepared by Filipino chef Domingo Domingo who is the owner of the popular Berne-based restaurant Mille Sens. Rounding up the dinner was a world class performance of the Loboc Children’s Choir, Gary Valenciano, Powerdance and the Maneouvres.
The Loboc Choir and Mr. Gary Valenciano perform during the dinner night
The guests raved about the Philippine hospitality and even approached Undersecretary Bengzon and Ambassador Baja to express their surprise and satisfaction for the organization of the dinner. They said that the dinner is a big come on to visit the Philippines this year and in the years to come. St Gallen Symposium President Peter Erzinger said that the Philippine participation in this year’s symposium is a hard act to follow.
Usec. Bengzon and Ambassador Baja with the Filipino students of the University of St. Gallen
The St Gallen Symposium is an annual conference taking place at the University of St Gallen in St Gallen, Switzerland and has since been organized by the International Students’ Committee, a student initiative at the University. Currently, this platform for dialogue welcomes more than 1,000 participants every year and is among the largest and most eminent events, completely run by students. Personalities such as Josef Ackermann, Mohammad Khatami, Bob Dudley and Ratan Naval Tata have attended the symposium in recent years. The symposium strives to foster constructive debates on current economic, political and social issues. This event gives particular attention to an intergenerational dialogue that is characterized by mutual respect. Therefore, particular focus is given to discussion in smaller, more informal settings, where the “Leaders of Tomorrow” can debate the “Leaders of Today” on an equal footing.
Usec. Bengzon at the 45th St. Gallen Symposium
This year, the symposium was keynoted by the Foreign Minister of Ghana. Also in attendance were the Prime Ministers of Iceland and Malta and the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore. In his working session on 7 May, Undersecretary Bengzon discussed the issue of country branding. He detailed how DOT promotes Philippine tourism through the current tourism slogan of “Its More Fun in the Philippines” END
