PH Envoy Lectures on PH, ASEAN at Universidade Nova De Lisboa
Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria delivers her lecture to Management Students of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
LISBON 04 May 2018 – The Philippine Embassy in Lisbon gave overview presentations on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Philippines to undergraduate management students of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA) on 30 April, Monday.
Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria gave the lecture on ASEAN and began by asking students on their knowledge about the organization. This followed by a brief narrative on the members of the organization, its objectives and on how the diversity of ASEAN and its people can lead to a wide range of economic opportunities.
Ambassador Feria also gave the students a comparative analysis between ASEAN and the European Union (EU) to dismiss the notion that both organizations are parallel in nature and character. However, she added that “both organizations are committed to peace, the protection of human rights and the promotion of Free Trade Agreements and Closer Economic Partnerships.”
The presentation then shifted on the three (3) pillars of the ASEAN Community particularly on the ASEAN Economic Community. Ambassador Feria provided the students with visual statistical data on ASEAN’S impact on the world economy in terms of population, gross domestic product, trade in goods, foreign direct investment, as well as ASEAN’s trade performance in the global market.
After the presentation, Ambassador Feria and the students had an interactive general discussion on ASEAN.
The second presentation given by First Secretary and Consul General Gines Jaime Ricardo D. Gallaga was on the Philippine country overview where he enlighten students on the historical link and contribution of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan to the Philippine islands and the potential to increase bilateral trade opportunities in goods and services between the Philippines and Portugal.
As part of the Embassy’s tourism efforts, Ambassador Feria invited the students to visit and explore the beauty of the Philippines and gave each student a Philippine tourism kit with a brochure of the different Philippine destinations and samples of dried mangoes.
In attendance were NOVA Portuguese and international students taking up the Bachelor’s degree program in Management and former Secretary of State and Cooperation and current faculty member Assistant Professor Luis Brites Pereira of the NOVA School of Business and Economics. END
For more information, visit www.lisbonpe.dfa.gov.ph.
(1st row) Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria (2nd from left), NOVA Assistant Professor Luis Brites Pereira (3rd from right), Consul General Gines Jaime Ricardo D. Gallaga (right) with NOVA students