PH, Russia 40 years of friendship

Bantay OCW program, on its 19th year of doing public service to Filipinos worldwide, formally launched its latest segment “Embassy Hour” in Radyo Inquirer dzIQ 990 AM, to invite ambassadors and embassy officials from the different foreign embassies and consulates in the Philippines.

The maiden broadcast was aired Feb. 8 and we were honored by the presence of Russian Ambassador Igor Anatolievich Khovaev as our guest, live at the studio of Inquirer radio in Makati City.

Federation

Russia is one of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member countries. As an introduction, Khovaev said that Russia, being the world’s largest country, is both their weakness and strength.

Being a federation, consisting of 85 republics and regions, it has 11 time zones. But it is also interesting to know that radio and television were invented by Russians. And because of the vast land area of Russia, communication plays a vital role in their country.

Thanks to Russians

After the Apec summit last year, Khovaev is confident that the Philippines and Russia will have a lot of programs considering its 40 years of friendship. He said both countries have always been friendly to each other and there was no conflict between the two.

He sees a lot of opportunities  in the fields of transportation, energy, tourism, trade, investments and mining in order to maintain a sustainable economy.

He is also eyeing talks on possible bilateral labor relations, to invite more Filipinos to work in Russia, from selection process, recruitment and hiring, including protection for our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

However, he added that one important requirement is the knowledge to speak the Russian language. Khovaev speaks highly of Filipinos working in Russia and said that they are law-abiding citizens.

Education

On education, he was happy to announce that Russia extends its education program for exchange students also to professors and educators.

He also encouraged Filipino businessmen to look into the possibility of putting up a business in Russia or to exchange goods with them. Russians also want to invest in the Philippines, as part of fostering small and medium partnership highlighted during the Apec summit.

Tourism

Khovaev invites Filipinos to visit Russia and discover the rich culture and good people in their country, aside from their famous tourist spots. Russia is chosen as one of the “most popular destination in the world” and included in the 23 Unesco World Heritage sites.

People-to-people contact

He also mentioned that Russian tourists spend two to three weeks in the Philippines with their families and they prefer to visit the beautiful beaches in the country and its historical sites and want to discover more about the Philippines.

When asked about his impression on the Philippines and the Filipinos as well, Khovaev said he was very glad when he learned that he will be assigned in the country and be able to experience the Filipino culture, their hospitality and positivity with their contagious beautiful smiles.

“We need to establish people-to-people contact and put efforts to discover each other,” Khovaev said.

Indeed, Russia is keeping an open door for every possibility of closely working with the Philippines and strengthening its friendly relations.

(Susan Andes, aka Susan K., can be heard over Radyo Inquirer dzIQ 990 AM, Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon. Audio/video live streaming is at www.ustream.tv/channel/dziq. Website: www.bantayocwfoundation.org. Bantay OCW Foundation satellite office: 3/F 24H City Hotel. 1460 Vito Cruz Extension cor. Balagtas St., Makati City. Helpline: 0927-6499870. E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected])