Binay to visit Germany

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay will undertake a working visit to Germany from June 4 to 9 to further promote Philippine-German bilateral relations, the Philippine embassy in Berlin announced yesterday.

The embassy said the visit is also aimed at sustaining the momentum created by the earlier exchange of visits between Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Together with Westerwelle, Binay will be keynote speaker at the official opening of the Asia Pacific Weeks (APW) 2013, one of the most important biennial international business gatherings in Berlin.

The Vice President will also be the guest of honor at the Architekturforum Aedes where top Filipino architects will launch an exhibit featuring sustainable forms of architecture and cities in the Philippines.

Binay will meet with key German business leaders in events organized by the Economic Council Germany in Berlin and the German Asia Pacific Business Association in Hamburg.

He will also preside over a dedicated presentation on “Makati City as Smart City Portal to Business in the Philippines” during the forum on sustainable cities.

As the presidential chief adviser on overseas Filipino workers, Binay will be the keynote speaker during the Maritime Roundtable Conference titled, “The Filipino Seafarer,” organized by the Germanischer Lloyd, the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and German Asia Pacific Business Association, in cooperation with the Philippine embassy in Berlin and the German embassy in Manila.

The Vice President will also have a dialogue with the Filipino communities in Berlin, Hamburg, and Stuttgart.

In Stuttgart, he will unveil a marker at the Hotel Marquardt where Jose Rizal stayed in 1887.

Binay is likewise slated to join the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Frankfurt.