SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – Cebu is not only benchmarked locally but globally.
Because of her experience in forging international sisterhood relations, Gov. Gwen Garcia was chosen to be among the panelists of the International Interregional Cooperation Meeting at the three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2024) in June.
Gov. Gwen led a delegation from Cebu, composed of members of the Provincial Board and the business sector, for this visit to Russia where she also renewed Cebu’s sisterhood agreement with Saint Petersburg, in a special ceremony also attended by Governor Alexander Beglov at the headquarters of Saint Petersburg City Administration in Smolny Institute.
The new agreement has been extended to broader fields, now includes trade and commerce, joint investments, educational exchanges, scientific and medical research, tourism, culture and the arts and even sports.
In a dialogue prior to the signing, Gov. Gwen also expressed to Gov. Beglov the idea of opening direct flights from St. Petersburg to Cebu and vice versa to add to each region’s tourist arrivals.
Aside from speaking in two forums, Governor Gwen also met with the chairman of Russia-ASEAN Business Council Ivan Polyakov and discussed business opportunities in Cebu Province that their members may be interested in.
Among them is to acquire or partner with financial institutions so that it will be easy for Russians who come to the Philippines to transact, whether they be tourists or traveling for business.
The governor also met with Russian Environmental Operator on Waste Management on the possibility of them investing on a Waste To Energy (WTE) venture in Cebu Province.
The governor was invited by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group in the forum as one of the resource persons of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) - ASEAN Dialogue on integration at the St. Petersburg International Econominc Forum (SPIEF 2024).
Addressing the participants, governor shared that for any integration to be effective, any cooperation agreements must start among local government units (LGUs) and make sure to do actual work on these agreements to bear results and not only on papers and dialogues.
“All politics are local. All diplomacy is local. All businesses start local,” Gov. Gwen said.
Gov. Gwen was also invited as one of the panelists during the International Interregional Cooperation Meeting which was organized by the Moscow government. During the meeting, she shared Cebu’s experience in forging international beneficial relations with other regions and provinces. Cebu Province has forged 13 sisterhood cooperation agreements internationally.
Joining the Governor in this important trip are Board Member (BM) Victoria Corominas-Toribio, BM Jiembo Borgonia, BM Glenn Soco, BM Jonkie Ouano, BM Red Duterte, BM Mike Villamor, BM Stanley Caminero, BM Nick Pepito, and BM Loren Singco; as well as MCCI president Mark Anthony Ynoc.
(𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 2024)