First Lady Liza Marcos, together with Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, joined the officials and delegates of the third leg of meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC) during its gala dinner program at the newly inaugurated National Museum of the Philippines-Cebu.
ABAC is the private sector arm of the APEC mandated to advise leaders and other APEC officials on issues of interest to business.
The gathering aims to encourage fruitful discussions among business leaders, policy-makers, and other stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific, highlighting the critical role of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the global economy.
The event is attended by more than a hundred delegates from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, United States of America, and Vietnam.
“One of the very first international events that I attended as Tourism Secretary was the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, where I got to appreciate the work that the APEC had done.”
“One of the very first international events that I attended as Tourism Secretary was the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, where I got to appreciate the work that the APEC had done, especially post pandemic with the use of empirical data to convince economies around the world of the necessity of opening up to tourism and travel once again,” Frasco said during her speech at the gala dinner.
“The Philippines is now fully open to tourists from across borders.”
The tourism chief expounded on the vision of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to set the stage for the Philippines putting it in a primary role in the world tourism radar, further noting that the country is now fully open to tourists from across borders.
“We certainly hope for your partnership and collaboration as together we grow the Philippine tourism industry to fulfill the vision for the Marcos administration to become Asia’s next tourism powerhouse,” the tourism head said.
She was also joined by APEC Philippines Senior Official Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, ABAC officials President Sabin Aboitiz, chair Dominic Ng, Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, and Deputy Speaker Duke Frasco during the gala dinner.
