Belgian Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Vladislava Iordanova described the event as a historic milestone that reflects the growing momentum in Belgian-Philippine relations, particularly in trade, investments, and people-to-people partnerships.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory is about people, partnerships and possibilities,\u201d Iordanova said in her remarks before diplomats, government officials, business leaders, and members of the Belgian economic mission. \u201cBusiness partnerships are not built on paper. They are built between people, across sectors, across borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"blank\"](\"https:\/\/thephilbiznews.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-fastest-cache-premium\/pro\/images\/blank.gif\")
PHOTO BY MONSI A. SERRAno<\/p>\n
The gala also served as the official launch platform for the first Belgian Days in Manila, scheduled in 2026, further highlighting Belgium\u2019s commitment to expanding its presence in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
The ambassador underscored the strong economic prospects between the Philippines and the European Union, noting the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe momentum is very strong,\u201d she said, citing the growing Belgian economic presence in the country and the shared ambition to strengthen cooperation further.<\/p>\n
Present during the event were Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary for International Trade Allan Gepty, Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Dina Joy Amato, and European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro, alongside Belgian trade officials and members of the Belgian business delegation.<\/p>\n
Iordanova emphasized that economic diplomacy goes beyond commerce and investments, stressing that business relations are ultimately \u201chuman relations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just a few months as ambassador, I learned something \u2014 diplomacy is about building bridges, and economic relations are, after all, human relations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Belgian envoy also highlighted the role of collaboration among the Belgian Embassy, trade offices, chamber of commerce, honorary consuls, and private sector partners in promoting stronger bilateral engagement.<\/p>\n
The event gathered representatives from multiple industries and showcased Belgian products, food, beverages, and business innovations, while also creating networking opportunities for Filipino and Belgian stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Iordanova encouraged participants to maximize the opportunity to build meaningful partnerships through the gala\u2019s \u201cBuilding Bridges Through Business\u201d networking sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about meeting everyone. It\u2019s about meeting the right people you would like to connect with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She concluded by expressing optimism that the gala would become an annual tradition that would help shape the next chapter of Belgian-Philippine relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s celebrate together and build the next 80 years with you, for you, together,\u201d the ambassador said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Monsi A. Serrano Belgium and the Philippines are poised to deepen economic and business relations as both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[12332,12333,12334,12335,12336,10250,12337,7,12338,8061,12339,1522,12340,5780,345,5143,12341,12342,8283,12343,12344,12345,125,12346,1390,3120,12347,12348,12349,12350,12351,12352,12353,12354],"class_list":["post-19191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgian-ambassador-vladislava-iordanova","tag-belgian-business-gala","tag-belgian-chamber-of-commerce","tag-belgian-companies","tag-belgian-days-manila-2026","tag-belgian-economic-mission","tag-belgian-embassy","tag-belgium","tag-belgium-philippines-relations","tag-bilateral-relations","tag-business-diplomacy","tag-business-news","tag-business-partnerships","tag-dfa","tag-diplomacy","tag-diplomatic-relations","tag-dti","tag-economic-partnerships","tag-embassy-news","tag-eu-ambassador-massimo-santoro","tag-eu-philippines-fta","tag-european-business","tag-european-union","tag-foreign-investment","tag-free-trade-agreement","tag-international-trade","tag-investment-news","tag-manila-business-events","tag-networking","tag-philippine-business","tag-philippines","tag-thephilbiznews","tag-trade-and-investment","tag-usec-alan-gepty"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}