78th anniversary of Pakistan Day

In order to celebrate 78th anniversary of Pakistan Day, the Embassy of Pakistan, Manila organized a special reception in a local hotel in the evening of 23 March 2018. As Pakistan’s 70th anniversary celebrations are ongoing during 2018, the regular diplomatic reception of Pakistan Day was expanded into an ethnic Food & Film Festival where typical Pakistani cuisine stations were set up to introduce the guests to authentic tastes of Pakistan, and a number of short documentaries projecting touristic and economic potential of Pakistan were run on multimedia throughout the event. Messages of the President and the Prime Minister on Pakistan Day 2018 as well as promotional material on tourist destinations of Pakistan were also distributed among the guests. The dinner reception was attended by a large number of representatives of the host government, members of Diplomatic Corps, International/ Multinational Organizations as well as Pakistani community members based in Manila. The formal programme was commenced with playing national anthems of the Philippines and Pakistan in order, followed by Ambassador’s speech and cutting of a commemorative cake.

The Ambassador in his speech highlighted the background and importance of Pakistan Day, Pakistan’s achievements, longstanding friendly ties between Pakistan and the Philippines as well as recent developments in bilateral relations between the two countries, notably President Duterte’s visit of Pakistani naval ship in December 2017. He said that next year would be a remarkable milestone in Pak- Philippines relations as it would witness the 70th Anniversary of relations between the two countries. The Ambassador shared with the audience that in order to gel and glue the existing linkages between the two countries further, he was working towards twinning Makati/ Manila with the Karachi City of Pakistan because of their social, cultural and economic commonalities.

The Chief Guest Mrs. Millicent Cruz Parades, Assistant Secretary, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, in her remarks conveyed felicitations of the Government of the Philippines on the eve of National Day of Pakistan and wished peace and prosperity for Pakistani people.

Exclusive 4- page feature editions on Pakistan were got published on 23 March 2018 in mainstream English newspapers of the Philippines, which carried articles on history and significance of Pakistan Day, Pakistan- Philippine relations, CPEC and leading export industries of Pakistan. These editions can be browsed on the following e-links:

https://businessmirror.com.ph/category/features/envoys-expats/

http://www.manilatimes.net/category/supplements/

Manila,
23 March 2018