DUBAI — New Perspective Media Group has paid a courtesy visit at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) headquarters in Makati, Philippines to discuss marketing and advertising collaborations for the country's participation at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Trade Assistant Secretary and alternate commissioner general Rosvi Gaetos warmly welcomed NPM delegation, which was headed by Dr. Karen Remo, the group’s managing director.

The two sides discussed ways to bolster the country's commercial and public interests in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region as a tourism destination and investment location in the heart of Southeast Asia.

The meeting also witnessed the discussion of possible approaches to catch the world's attention by highlighting salient products and services at Expo 2020 Dubai, where 11 million foreign visitors are expected. The Expo is projected to give a significant boost not only to the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) tourism sector but also to the 192 confirmed participating countries.

With the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” the massive exposition of trade fairs, which starts in October 2020 and runs for six months aims to promote collaborations and partnerships between governments, corporations, and civil society in drawing up sustainable solutions to global problems.

As the Philippines’s main export and investment-promotion agency, DTI discussed with NPM Group during the visit that the country’s participation is now in full throttle, following Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's signing of Administrative Order 17, which greenlighted the creation of the Expo 2020 Philippine Organizing Committee - of which DTI has been assigned as the lead agency.

Meanwhile, even before the signing of the Administrative Order, NPM Group has already been helping DTI to drive ahead of the country's participation in this global expo. One of its publication arms, The Filipino Times, the biggest newspaper in the UAE and the largest digital platform for Filipinos in the Middle East and North Africa, has been consistently at the frontline from the get-go of promoting related news and information.

During Asec. Gaetos' and her accompanying delegation's visit to Dubai to hold a technical meeting with the organizing committee of Expo 2020 Dubai, TFT has published articles that thrilled the Filipino community in the UAE. It also broke the news about the Philippines' showcasing the country’s natural beauty and wonders in a 3,000 sq. m. pavilion.

TFT has also made it possible for these trending stories to be carried in the online portal of the UAE's official news agency, WAM, for a bigger and wider consumption. Hence, creating a strong impact on the region.

The meeting between DTI and NPM Group was also attended by Gilda R. Dela Cruz of the Office of DTI Assistant Secretary; Vince Ang, NPM Group Business Unit Head and General Manager of TFT; Mark Nituma, NPM Group Content Director and Manila Bureau Chief; and Malou Talosig Bartolome, NPM Group Editor.

NPM Group, a leading media, PR, and marketing communications company based in Dubai with offices across the Middle East and the Asia Pacific, has been a supporter of DTI’s initiatives and had done consultancy and educational workshop with Philippines companies to help promote trade goals, particularly in exports and Halal trade. — SG