ILOILO CITY — The ambassador of Switzerland to the Philippines gathered 500 of her countrymen, scattered in different parts of the province, during her two-day visit here which started on Thursday.
After meeting with the Swiss community here, Ambassador Andrea Reichlin reported that her fellow citizens are on a “positive mood” living in Iloilo.
Most of the Swiss nationals have been living here for over 20 years already and a number of them are married to Filipinos. Others came back after living sometime in Switzerland to retire here.
“They like it here because obviously, the air is clean, the transportation is easy, city offers a lot of possibilities in terms of services, and also recreation I guess,” she said in an interview on Friday after her courtesy call on Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. at the Capitol.
Nature is the first attraction as “it is possible to go up the mountains and there are also seas here,” she added.
“It is quite a fantastic place from nature to infrastructure-wise. We are positive and surprised about the state of infrastructure from the airports to the roads,” said the envoy in her first time visit to the city.
“The city also looks vibrant, modern, and there are a lot of developments so, we are pleased and positively impressed,” she added.
Reichlin and Defensor discussed the priorities of the provincial government. She said the next step would probably be providing investment opportunities for the province.
“For the time being only a courtesy call but we are certainly looking to possibilities or know if Swiss companies are already here present and what they are doing and if they want to expand their activities here in the province,” she said. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
