Before the summit proper started, early birds Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar State Counsellor Aug San Suu Kyi were treated to basically Kapampangan dinner after they landed at the Clark International Airport here.
It was a welcome dinner hosted by former president, Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Midori Hotel here.
The menu for the dinner indicated “hipon sa tanglad” or poached shrimp cocktail with picco de galla salsa as appetizer, mango and pako salad, “suam na mais at halaan” soup and, for the main course, red snapper fillet in coconut cream served with rice and roasted pumpkin.
Dessert was leche fl an, “ginataang bilo bilo”, and buko pandan.
Those who were invited to the dinner wasted no time posting photos on Facebook, revealing attendees composed of Pampanga’s Who’s Who list.
Apart from local political leaders, civil society personalities donned in their formal best hobnobbed in Midori’s dining hall.
In her speech before the dinner, Arroyo, who wore a formal Filipiniana that looked stifling on her shoulders, called for stronger tourism cooperation between the Philippines and Cambodia.
“We call for the implementation program of the Philippine-Cambodia Tourism Cooperation 2016-2020. The joint tourism program aims to revitalize tourism industries between the two countries. One of the program’s priority is establishment of direct flights from Manila to Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh and also Siem Reap,” she said.
“Another aspect of the program is the enhanced exchange program for Filipino and Cambodian hospitality and tourism students,” she added.
The Philippine-Cambodian 2016-2020 Tourism Cooperation was among the four cooperation agreements signed during the December 2016 state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in Cambodia.
