ILOILO City – This southern city is very pretty and vibrant.
This was the initial impression of the Australian Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission Richard Sisson who was here on Wednesday.
Among others, Sisson described the Iloilo Business Park as “very interesting but still quite spacious” unlike Manila that is already very dense.
He also loved the architecture in the old downtown area in the City Proper where heritage buildings are being preserved.
As for education, Sisson said Iloilo should be producing a lot of highly educated young people good at problem solving, adoptable and can work in any number of different environments, noting that the metro has lots of private and state universities.
He also noted the very active BPO (business process outsourcing) industry.
“I think quality of life here, this is my initial impression, is probably very good. Goliath city, the services, and quite a number of malls here. You have a lot that will attract many,” said Sisson.
The diplomat said it is very important for them to go out to better understand the provinces, regions and municipalities.
“When we do these visits we would like to meet with the governor, mayor and other local officials, business leaders, chambers of commerce, people who have studied in Australia and the media — it gives us a good prospection of a provincial society,” Sisson said.
Particularly, in Iloilo and Guimaras, the Australian government has programs in education and agriculture.
They had teacher’s professional training program in six schools in Iloilo and eight schools in Guimaras.
They have also funded some agriculture and fishery programs such as seaweed harvesting and sea cucumber production in Tigbauan town.
Sisson and his team also met with Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Dennis Ventilacion and Provincial Planning and Development Officer Mario Nillos, on behalf of Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
Sisson expressed how grateful he is to Gov. Defensor and the Iloilo provincial government for its support and assistance with the repatriation of Australians from Iloilo in May 2020.
They also talked about the economic impact of the pandemic and the opportunities for further collaboration with the province./PN
