The Official Website of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, Korea

PHILIPPINES HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF INDUSTRY 4.0 TO ADVANCE ENTERPRISES AND TECHNOLOGIES

[Top Left] Ambassador Dizon-De Vega delivers welcome remarks at the 3^rd Global Business Forum of The Korea Herald. [Top Right] Ambassador Dizon-De Vega and Mr. Choi Jin Young, CEO of The Korea Herald.

21 March 2023, Seoul. Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega addressed participants at the opening of the fourth session of the 3^rd Global Business Forum organized by The Korea Herald on 15 March 2023. In attendance at the forum were Mr. Jung Won-Ju, Chairman of the Herald Corporation, Mr. Choi Jin-Young CEO, The Korea Herald, Mr. An Yu-Hua, President of the University of California at Irvine, Mr. Kang Jin-seok, Head of the Digital Media Team, Herald Auction, business representatives and experts.

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega highlighted the continuing initiatives of the Philippines and Republic of Korea in promoting the various dimensions of bilateral relations, with economic cooperation taking the forefront. She also mentioned that both countries’ leaders have articulated in their meetings the elevation of bilateral partnership to a strategic level.

The Philippine Ambassador stressed the critical role of digitalization for a more robust economic engagement with the ROK. She cited enterprise digitalization, digitalization in infrastructure, and content/creative industry digitalization as the three main drivers to support our path towards greater industrialization. Ambassador Dizon-De Vega said that, “It is important that we embrace Industry 4.0 as it brings unprecedented change that merges our biological, physical, and digital worlds, which challenges us to have innovative approaches towards the growth and development of our economy.”

And that, “Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, virtual and augmented reality, IoT, and smart manufacturing can help advance enterprises and industries. These technologies can lead to productivity improvement, energy efficiency, industrial competitiveness, and stronger linkage to supporting industries. As our country enters a post-pandemic future, globally competitive and innovative industries would mean environmental sustainability, inclusive growth, and shared prosperity for Filipinos.”

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega also conveyed her warm congratulations to The Korea Herald on the celebration of its 70^th anniversary. END

PHILIPPINE AMBASSADOR PRESENTS ROK FOREIGN MINISTER WITH BOOK ON ASEAN CENTRALITY

ROK Foreign Minister H.E. Park Jin (left) and Philippine Ambassador H.E. Theresa Dizon-De Vega (right)

20 March 2023, Seoul. Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea H.E. Theresa Dizon-De Vega presented ROK Foreign Minister H.E. Park Jin with a copy of the book ASEAN Centrality: An Autoethnographic Account by a Philippine Diplomat authored by Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso at a luncheon with Women Ambassadors hosted by H.E. Susana Vaz Patto, Ambassador of the Portuguese Republic in ROK, on 10 March 2023.

Ambassador De Vega took the opportunity to highlight the importance of ASEAN’s role in Women, Peace and Security, as well as Philippine initiatives in the peace process including in the establishment of the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR), initiated by Ambassador. END

PH AMBASSADOR PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVENT HOSTED BY UN WOMEN

Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega and fellow diplomats in the Republic of Korea poses for a photo to commemorate the International Women’s Day 2023 event hosted by UN Women.

20 March 2023, Seoul. Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega graced the first International Women’s Day event hosted by the United Nations Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in the Republic of Korea, referred to as “The Centre” on 8 March 2023 at the Hotel President in Seoul. Other diplomats, international development experts, women STEM achievers, and heads of international organizations joined the event to commemorate the celebration of International Women’s Day with the theme "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.

The Philippine Ambassador is a staunch supporter of women in advanced fields of science and technology, including in the field of ICT. The Philippine Embassy in Seoul continues to create projects and support initiatives that will help the next generation Filipino women in STEM reach their full potential in the global sphere.

The participants backed the UN Women “Together for Gender Equality” advocacy as a show of commitment in support of the UN’s mission to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

The UN Women Centre in ROK was established in 2022 with the support of the ROK government. It aspires to become a knowledge hub to facilitate research, education & training, sharing of innovations and lessons learned, networking, and development of multi-stakeholder partnerships. END

PHILIPPINE AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES WAYS TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL GENDER DIVIDE AT 2ND SOOKMYUNG UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FORUM

Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega and co-panel of experts including the Ambassador of Brazil, Ireland and The Netherlands, Sookmyung University President Yunkeum Chang and Ms. Yvonne Kim, Executive Director of Asia Society Korea

share the stage to cap the 2^nd Sookmyung International Women’s Day Forum.

20 March 2023, Seoul. Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea H.E. Theresa Dizon-De Vega was one of the panel of experts invited by the Sookmyung Women’s University (SWU) for the 2^nd Sookmyung Women’s University International Women’s Day Forum held on 08 March 2023. This is the second time Sookmyung university hosted the forum in honor of women’s contribution to the society and to commemorate 2023 International Women’s Day and the second time for Ambassador Dizon-De Vega to be invited to the forum.

During the panel discussion, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega shared insights on one of the critical issues in addressing gender equality – the digital gender divide. She stressed the importance allowing women to fully participate in the digital economy and encourage public and private sector cooperation in bridging the digital gender divide.

To emphasize the Philippines’ active support for gender equality and technology, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega shared the country’s commitment to guarantee universal connectivity by ensuring women’s inclusion in ICT.

To date, there have been significant achievements on Philippine gender policies such as the inclusion of provisions of affordable, accessible, and reliable internet services to our communities, including marginalized women. One of the notable achievements of the Philippines is the launching of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Digital Innovation for Women Advancement (DIWA) to increase Filipino women’s role in ICT and the completion of the Philippines’ national 2022 Women and ICT Development Index (WIDI) Survey, the first-ever national survey that aims to generate indicators on how women are able to access and use ICTs and its result show that women in the digital space form the backbone of our digital economy. END