PHL Ambassador Pushes Ties Between Dumaguete City and Coimbra in Portugal

PHL Ambassador Pushes Ties Between Dumaguete City and Coimbra in Portugal

 

28 February 2014 – Philippine Ambassador to Portugal Philippe Lhuillier paid a courtesy call on Dr. Manuel Machado, Mayor of Coimbra, on February 12 at the historic building housing the Camara Municipal de Coimbra located 195 kilometers north of the capital city Lisbon.

 

Despite inclement weather, the Ambassador received a warm welcome from the Mayor and city officials. During the meeting, Ambassador Lhuillier suggested the possibility of a Sister City Agreement between Dumaguete City and Coimbra, owing to their similarities as university cities, hosting sites of information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) centers and emphasis on important role of tourism in the city's development.

 

Coimbra served as capital of Portugal during the Middle Ages from 1131 to 1255 until the decision came to transfer the capital to Lisbon because of the latter’s close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the Tagus River, whose seaport was becoming a major European trading point. Like Dumaguete City which hosts century-old Silliman University, Coimbra is host to the University of Coimbra which is the oldest in Europe, established in 1290 and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.

 

Mayor Machado mentioned that the City is open to the idea of partnership between the two cities in the same way that cooperation may also be established down the line between the universities and research institutions of Coimbra and their counterparts in the Philippines.

 

Ambassador Lhuillier expressed the hope that the sister city ties will provide the framework for cooperation on such areas as education, business, tourism, culture and people to people engagement. END

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