DOT LEADS RP MISSION IN RUSSIAN FAR EAST  

28 June 2007 — Philippine Ambassador to the Russian Federation Ernesto V. Llamas reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that a five-day joint Philippine Government and private sector mission spearheaded by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to the Russian Far East arrived on 26 June 2007 in Khabarovsk , the first of two cities to be visited by the mission.  

The 30-member delegation, led by Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Eduardo Jarque, Jr, is composed mainly of DOT officials, tour operators, hotel and resort managers, members of media, and business people.  Embassy Second Secretary and Consul Roderico C Atienza, who concurrently handles tourism and trade, was also part of the delegation.

The group is joined by Armi Lopez-Garcia, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation to Cebu, Bohol and Panay Islands , and the Bayanihan National Folk Dance Company, who return to Russia after their successful performance last year in Moscow for the commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of Philippine-Russia diplomatic relations.  

The Bayanihan are scheduled to perform during the travel exchange between Philippine and local tour operators that will be held in the afternoon of 26 June 2007 at Hotel Intourist, as well as at the official reception at the same hotel.  

On 14 March 2006, the Bayanihan's 10-member traveling troupe presented a 90-minute program, “An Evening of Folk Dances,” together with the Loktev Dance Ensemble, a venerable Russian children's folk dance group, at the historic Hermitage Theatre in Moscow.  

The mission, conceptualized last year by the DOT and originally planned for May to include a broader seven-day itinerary including Sakhalin Island , aims to promote the Philippines as a tourism destination as well as a attractive business and investment partner. The mission left Khabarovsk for Vladivostok on 27 June.  

The mission effectively marks the resumption of Philippine interest in the Russian Far East, which was active a decade ago when trade, diplomatic and cultural missions made inroads in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, especially after the Department appointed former city councilor Yury Kostyukov as Honorary Consul in July 1994.  

The Bayanihan itself has given performances in the Russian Far East more than a decade ago before the 1998 Russian financial crisis.  The Bayanihan's association with Russia goes back to the very start of bilateral diplomatic relations.  It was in Russia where the Philippine Government signed the document that initiated diplomatic relations with the former Soviet Union 30 years ago.  

Other prominent Filipinos who have visited the Russian Far East include current Agriculture Secretary Arturo C. Yap, who was part of a Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) mission in 1997, and former Kirov Ballet ballerina Lisa Macuja and her group Ballet Manila.  

With Russia ’s economy maintaining a high growth rate, the Philippines ’ focus turns to the Russian Far East as a more accessible and less distant partner.  

In June 2006, Embassy Trade Officer Pete Delfin visited Vladivostok for exploratory meetings with officials of the Primorsky (Maritime) Territory Regional Administration on tourism and trade matters.  

In December 2006, Vladivostok Airlines opened regular weekly charter flights to Manila from Vladivostok with a stop in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island , where thousands of Filipinos are now working in the booming energy sector. The flights were temporarily suspended in June 2007 but are expected to resume in the winter.  

In May 2007, the Embassy's consular assistant visited Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to personally deliver the ballots of the 475 Filipinos who were registered there.  

The DOT's mission in the Far East expands on the efforts it has been making in Russia since 2004.  It reached a milestone last year, when Tourism Secretary Joseph H. Durano signed in March 2006 an agreement on bilateral tourism cooperation in Moscow as a way to maintain the record-breaking momentum of tourist flow between the Philippines and Russia .  

While lesser known and smaller in size than Vladivostok , Khabarovsk has been the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia since 2002.  It also ranks first in the nation in terms of quality of life in a nationwide survey excluding Moscow . END

/jay

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