29 January 2015 - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano paid a visit to the Philippines from January 26 to 28 as part of a five-country Southeast Asian tour that included stops in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Director-General Amano met with high-level officials from foreign affairs and science and technology during his brief stay, including the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Acting Secretary Linglingay Lacanlale, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo and Undersecretary Amelia Guevarra, Philippine Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the IAEA Lourdes Yparraguirre and Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) Director Alumanda Dela Rosa.

During his meeting with Director-General Amano, Secretary Montejo lauded the strong partnership between the Philippines and the Agency. The IAEA chief was thereafter given a tour of projects that have been completed through the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme, including the recently-inaugurated Electron Beam/Cobalt-60 Irradiation Facility in the PNRI and the Medical Cyclotron Facility in the National Kidney Transplant Institute. He later interacted with students and faculty of the San Francisco High School and Quezon City Science High School, beneficiaries of an IAEA pilot project that promotes nuclear science and technology education in secondary schools.

Director-General Amano concluded his visit with a call on Acting Secretary Lacanlale, who was the country’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA at the time of Amano’s appointment in 2009. 

Director-General Amano is on his second term as head of the IAEA, an international organization based in Vienna, Austria, and established in 1957 to promote the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. Given its emphasis on cooperation, especially with developing countries, under Amano’s leadership,  the IAEA has supported the Philippines in harnessing the benefits of nuclear science and technology in such fields as food security, human health and environmental resources management, among others. END