France on Monday, Dec. 9, inaugurated its new embassy premise in the Philippines in an event that coincided with the reopening of the Manila-Paris direct flight.
France’s Secretary General for its Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Anne-Marie Descôtes, and French Ambassador to Manila Marie Fontanel led the inauguration of the embassy’s new premise located on Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2 in Makati City.
It was in January that the embassy started relocating to the building.
Descôtes took the maiden flight via Air France from Paris that landed in Manila on Dec. 8.
It was the first direct flight between the two countries in 20 years after the French Embassy worked on further boosting its tourism relations and vice versa with the Philippines.
“The new, modern premises aim to upgrade the quality of service being rendered by the Embassy of France to the public, as well as the working conditions of the embassy teams, which have expanded over the last few months with the opening of a full-fledged defense mission,” the embassy said.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Ariel Peñaranda, Makati Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, Ayala CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II and heads of missions of European Union Member States also attended the event.
On the other hand, France also launched the Philippine Week in Paris, which is set from December 9 to 13 as it is aimed at exploring new avenues for cooperation across a range of sectors including maritime cooperation, trade, tourism, development, higher education or research.