[Music]
last year I had the chance to live in
Geneva
it’s a city commonly mistaken as the
capital of Switzerland of course we all
know that’s not the case because
Baroness that is the capital of
Switzerland this slick and cosmopolitan
city is home to a riot of outspoken
people speaking almost every language in
the world
Messiah included in fact where I went to
school in in Geneva I met everyone from
Albania all the way to Zimbabwe and I
found that very fascinating Geneva is a
global city it is a microcosm of the
earth and everywhere you go you find a
representative of every country in the
world despite its size would you believe
that Geneva is only half as big as
Dumaguete City the second-largest city
in Switzerland yes it is the second
largest city in Switzerland packs quite
a punch in global affairs it is home to
more than 200 international
organizations and non-governmental
organizations such as the World Trade
Organization the second largest branch
of the World Bank the European
headquarters of the United Nations the
International Committee of the Red Cross
and other international organizations
more often than not the future of the
world is discussed and decided in this
tiny Swiss City now I would like to
believe that Geneva has the capacity to
forge international partnerships with
other cities around the world thus
bypassing the usual route often taken by
the kind of diplomacy we are all very
much familiar with another city I’d like
to share with you is that it’s a very
popular city and I had a chance to
experience the same
last year we have New York so New York
never leaves people’s bucket lists and
for a very good reason Broadway the
chance to make the world listen to you
dream jobs these are only a few of the
many reasons why New York is often
touted as the concrete jungle where
dreams are made of so they weren’t
kidding when they said that if you make
it in New York you’re bound to make it
anywhere around the world New York City
is a trendsetter in many respects in
fact when the United States opted out
from the Paris Accords an international
agreement bent on fighting climate
change it was New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg who boldly stepped up
and led other city mayors in the United
States to declare that with or without
the support of national government New
York City and other cities in the United
States are still taking climate action
to an entirely different level this
movement has spread like a wildfire all
over the world today cities are
realizing just how much power and
potential they hold in their hands to
make a difference and this is just the
beginning it is predicted that in the
coming decades civis ISM the pride and
loyalty to one city will take precedence
over nationalism what does this mean
this means for example that there will
be a growing consciousness among people
like you and me to identify ourselves as
DiMaggio Tanya’s first Filipino second
but where the city’s draw so much power
confidence and influence from three
things first people more than half of
humanity currently lives in cities for
work education and of course for
opportunities in fact it is predicted
that by 25
be close to one third of the entire
earth will live in urban areas as more
people move the city’s cities will
experience a tremendous amount of Brain
Gain the more people cities attract the
more expertise and talent they will have
at its own disposal this deep pool of
creativity fuels a city’s economic
activity as economic activity ramps up
cities become stronger magnets
attracting talent knowledge and
expertise regardless of whether you look
at it from the local or global
perspective one thing is for sure people
our country’s greatest reserves of power
second innovation now because cities
attract a diversity of people it
naturally becomes a birthplace of ideas
that change the world Austrian economist
Joseph Schumpeter calls it the gales of
creative destruction and these gales
they blow first in cities rendering
politics science technology culture and
the arts totally unrecognizable in a
matter of years the Silicon Valley mega
city cluster for example in California
gave birth to Google Facebook Twitter
which has changed the way we connect
with each other as well as the way we
consume information so I remember back
then in order for us to get our daily
serving of news and current events we
would either buy a newspaper or scramble
in front of the television today thanks
to social media and of course our
smartphones we don’t need to do that we
can easily find out what our neighbor is
having for dinner or what agreement a
world leader is signing next as these
events unfold
third well cities drive the world
economy 600 of the world’s most
prosperous cities power more than half
of the go
economy some cities even have a larger
economic output than entire countries
and let me give you a few examples of
that we have Paris for example it has a
larger GDP than South Africa Beijing
contributes more to the world economy
than say Sweden Seoul churns out a
higher GDP than Malaysia and you know
what it’s like in international affairs
the bigger your economic muscles are the
louder your voice is on the global
negotiation table yet despite how
powerful and influential cities have
become cities are hitting a glass
ceiling and this is because
international relations is still largely
inter national between and among states
with the national government still
calling the shots cities are still
generally disconnected from ministries
of Foreign Affairs and this limits the
ability of cities to unleash their
potential in helping a country
successfully meet its time-bound global
commitments so in order for cities to go
full-speed in international affairs
perhaps it’s high time for cities to
beef up their ability to conduct
diplomacy and to craft their own foreign
policy now I’d like to make this clear I
am not advocating for cities to totally
replace ministries of Foreign Affairs as
the chief architects of a nation’s
foreign policy it’s far from it what I
am suggesting is a synergy cities can
create an office of international
affairs within City Hall while the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the
Department of Foreign Affairs as some
countries have it can at the same time
create an office that will play a
collaborating role in unleashing the
power of City diplomacy developing
strategies that will empower cities and
at the same time strengthen the
relationship between country level and
city level diplomacy will ultimately
prove
to be a more resilient foreign affairs
model in the coming years so here’s what
I have in mind in order to make this
work out ministries of Foreign Affairs
can create an office of City diplomacy
to work closely with cities and to
enhance coordination between the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local
governments in managing trade and
investment ties sister city linkages and
other urban initiatives link towards
fulfilling international commitments
such as the 2030 agenda for sustainable
development the Sendai framework habitat
3 and the Paris Accords the office of
city diplomacy must meet regularly with
the different representatives from city
halls Foreign Affairs office as well as
representatives from other relevant
offices within the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs such as the Office of public
diplomacy to make sure that everyone and
I mean everyone is on the same page why
is why is this important it’s because a
robust and coherent communication
strategy is critical when cities want to
engage with international partners and
at the same time when the country the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to
promote the urban agenda in
international fora such as the United
Nations the ministry can also play a
recommend Ettore role by recommending to
city diplomats the possible areas where
our city for example dumaguete city can
collaborate with and make things happen
with other cities such as New York
ministries of Foreign Affairs will gain
from a closer relationship with city
governments in the sense that country
level diplomacy will have a better
perspective of the local dimension of
international issues for example how do
agreements and say health agriculture
education makes sense to cities like
Cebu Tacloban dumaguete Davao these are
important perspectives that are often
missed out because
country level diplomacy almost often
makes a broad and sweeping view for
foreign policy to be felt by the people
it must be brought closer to the people
the establishment of a specialized
office to empower cities in global
affairs
it’s only one side of the coin the
success of this endeavor also rests
heavily on the creation of the office of
Foreign Affairs within city hall yet
before cities can create an office of
Foreign Affairs cities need to think
about how it can harness the a khadeem
its diverse population the media
businesses everything that shapes its
entire identity in such a way that it
will be able to tell a compelling story
bridging this city to the rest of the
international community this point to
ponder can prove to be an important
springboard when cities want to create
ties with the rest of the world so today
I want to start by letting you ask two
questions number one what story do I
want my city to tell the rest of the
world and second why should the rest of
the world listen to my city this effort
requires the city to develop a strong
framework to support its global vision
City Hall’s office of foreign affairs
must work closely with a mayor in
coordinating with a foreign ministry’s
office of city diplomacy and in
strengthening the city’s international
thighs once concrete ways of working
have been developed cities will need to
formally establish their presence
overseas cities can achieve this by
deploying city diplomats in other cities
where it has key strategic interests
this also means that the city mayor and
other officials must travel overseas
regularly to meet with our counterparts
to discuss how they can make things
happen for both of their cities this is
an initiative that cities like Toronto
for example have already done today City
Hall’s office of foreign affairs will
play a critical role
not only in attracting investments
talent and travelers but more
importantly in helping local
constituents better understand how
international issues and their country’s
foreign policy make sense in their daily
lives
cities can help ministries of Foreign
Affairs understand why citizens like you
and me feel a certain way about certain
global affairs issues
this will help ministries in creating
and recalibrating strategic and tactical
plans to advance gnashed national
interests which is truly a
representative of what we need as a
people working closely with city
governments will help the national
government localize international
development targets by crafting action
plans from the bottom up this ensures
that plants are more responsive and that
they truly represent what everyone needs
instead of fighting over the same piece
of pie cities and national governments
can take on diplomatic activities that
complement each other thereby amplifying
each other’s efforts both the city and
the national government will stand to
gain from this arrangement cities
represents something that is closer to
the everyday lives of citizens where the
national government can help give cities
a boost by linking the local to the
global
cities can therefore significantly help
the national government achieve the
city’s global commitments especially on
a range of issues such as peace and
security equality economic growth
conversely City stunts again by having a
clear and formal structure integrating
the national governments Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to the city or to the
local government and through the
strength of these connections it can
fully equip both city and national
government as we hurtle into the future
cities can lead and developing local
salut
and forging partnerships aimed at
achieving the 2030 agenda for
sustainable development which require
urban solutions cities can also help in
promoting art culture and even tourism
internationally because whether we like
it or not each city has a distinct
personality that must be marketed and it
must be told to the rest of the world
which is independent from the rest of
the country the greatest challenge lies
in garnering enough political support
from its citizens and changing the
mindset of city leaders on the global
nature of cities today the success of
City diplomacy rests on convincing
citizens that each of us has a role to
play in global affairs September 2015
marked an important milestone in the
global development agenda the year
marked the beginning of our collective
journey towards achieving the most
aspirational goals to date the 2030
agenda for sustainable development
spanning 17 sustainable development
goals and 169 underpinning targets these
address the greatest challenges of our
time the SDGs are intertwined and
indivisible this means only one thing
that everyone is required to join in
that all hands need to be on deck all
these cities and many other key areas
that they cover innovation economic
growth equality organization climate
change these are among the global goals
thus makes cities crucial not only as
focal points in the sustainable
development agenda but as key sectors in
helping us achieve the future that we
want however in order for us to achieve
this on the dot our cities need to make
their voices heard on the global
negotiation table we all live in
that are considered the new normal what
we need is a radical shift from the
business-as-usual approach in order for
us to overcome our existential
challenges empowering cities as major
players in global affairs and developing
a concrete framework to strengthen the
ties binding country level and City
diplomacy represents this radical yet
necessary shift as cities gain more
power and influence in the coming year
cities will cease to be mere spectators
in global affairs rather cities
Dumaguete City included cities are
poised to become important players and
the country’s most important partner in
enabling all of us to achieve the future
we have always dreamed of thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
last year I had the chance to live in
Geneva
it’s a city commonly mistaken as the
capital of Switzerland of course we all
know that’s not the case because
Baroness that is the capital of
Switzerland this slick and cosmopolitan
city is home to a riot of outspoken
people speaking almost every language in
the world
Messiah included in fact where I went to
school in in Geneva I met everyone from
Albania all the way to Zimbabwe and I
found that very fascinating Geneva is a
global city it is a microcosm of the
earth and everywhere you go you find a
representative of every country in the
world despite its size would you believe
that Geneva is only half as big as
Dumaguete City the second-largest city
in Switzerland yes it is the second
largest city in Switzerland packs quite
a punch in global affairs it is home to
more than 200 international
organizations and non-governmental
organizations such as the World Trade
Organization the second largest branch
of the World Bank the European
headquarters of the United Nations the
International Committee of the Red Cross
and other international organizations
more often than not the future of the
world is discussed and decided in this
tiny Swiss City now I would like to
believe that Geneva has the capacity to
forge international partnerships with
other cities around the world thus
bypassing the usual route often taken by
the kind of diplomacy we are all very
much familiar with another city I’d like
to share with you is that it’s a very
popular city and I had a chance to
experience the same
last year we have New York so New York
never leaves people’s bucket lists and
for a very good reason Broadway the
chance to make the world listen to you
dream jobs these are only a few of the
many reasons why New York is often
touted as the concrete jungle where
dreams are made of so they weren’t
kidding when they said that if you make
it in New York you’re bound to make it
anywhere around the world New York City
is a trendsetter in many respects in
fact when the United States opted out
from the Paris Accords an international
agreement bent on fighting climate
change it was New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg who boldly stepped up
and led other city mayors in the United
States to declare that with or without
the support of national government New
York City and other cities in the United
States are still taking climate action
to an entirely different level this
movement has spread like a wildfire all
over the world today cities are
realizing just how much power and
potential they hold in their hands to
make a difference and this is just the
beginning it is predicted that in the
coming decades civis ISM the pride and
loyalty to one city will take precedence
over nationalism what does this mean
this means for example that there will
be a growing consciousness among people
like you and me to identify ourselves as
DiMaggio Tanya’s first Filipino second
but where the city’s draw so much power
confidence and influence from three
things first people more than half of
humanity currently lives in cities for
work education and of course for
opportunities in fact it is predicted
that by 25
be close to one third of the entire
earth will live in urban areas as more
people move the city’s cities will
experience a tremendous amount of Brain
Gain the more people cities attract the
more expertise and talent they will have
at its own disposal this deep pool of
creativity fuels a city’s economic
activity as economic activity ramps up
cities become stronger magnets
attracting talent knowledge and
expertise regardless of whether you look
at it from the local or global
perspective one thing is for sure people
our country’s greatest reserves of power
second innovation now because cities
attract a diversity of people it
naturally becomes a birthplace of ideas
that change the world Austrian economist
Joseph Schumpeter calls it the gales of
creative destruction and these gales
they blow first in cities rendering
politics science technology culture and
the arts totally unrecognizable in a
matter of years the Silicon Valley mega
city cluster for example in California
gave birth to Google Facebook Twitter
which has changed the way we connect
with each other as well as the way we
consume information so I remember back
then in order for us to get our daily
serving of news and current events we
would either buy a newspaper or scramble
in front of the television today thanks
to social media and of course our
smartphones we don’t need to do that we
can easily find out what our neighbor is
having for dinner or what agreement a
world leader is signing next as these
events unfold
third well cities drive the world
economy 600 of the world’s most
prosperous cities power more than half
of the go
economy some cities even have a larger
economic output than entire countries
and let me give you a few examples of
that we have Paris for example it has a
larger GDP than South Africa Beijing
contributes more to the world economy
than say Sweden Seoul churns out a
higher GDP than Malaysia and you know
what it’s like in international affairs
the bigger your economic muscles are the
louder your voice is on the global
negotiation table yet despite how
powerful and influential cities have
become cities are hitting a glass
ceiling and this is because
international relations is still largely
inter national between and among states
with the national government still
calling the shots cities are still
generally disconnected from ministries
of Foreign Affairs and this limits the
ability of cities to unleash their
potential in helping a country
successfully meet its time-bound global
commitments so in order for cities to go
full-speed in international affairs
perhaps it’s high time for cities to
beef up their ability to conduct
diplomacy and to craft their own foreign
policy now I’d like to make this clear I
am not advocating for cities to totally
replace ministries of Foreign Affairs as
the chief architects of a nation’s
foreign policy it’s far from it what I
am suggesting is a synergy cities can
create an office of international
affairs within City Hall while the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the
Department of Foreign Affairs as some
countries have it can at the same time
create an office that will play a
collaborating role in unleashing the
power of City diplomacy developing
strategies that will empower cities and
at the same time strengthen the
relationship between country level and
city level diplomacy will ultimately
prove
to be a more resilient foreign affairs
model in the coming years so here’s what
I have in mind in order to make this
work out ministries of Foreign Affairs
can create an office of City diplomacy
to work closely with cities and to
enhance coordination between the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local
governments in managing trade and
investment ties sister city linkages and
other urban initiatives link towards
fulfilling international commitments
such as the 2030 agenda for sustainable
development the Sendai framework habitat
3 and the Paris Accords the office of
city diplomacy must meet regularly with
the different representatives from city
halls Foreign Affairs office as well as
representatives from other relevant
offices within the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs such as the Office of public
diplomacy to make sure that everyone and
I mean everyone is on the same page why
is why is this important it’s because a
robust and coherent communication
strategy is critical when cities want to
engage with international partners and
at the same time when the country the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to
promote the urban agenda in
international fora such as the United
Nations the ministry can also play a
recommend Ettore role by recommending to
city diplomats the possible areas where
our city for example dumaguete city can
collaborate with and make things happen
with other cities such as New York
ministries of Foreign Affairs will gain
from a closer relationship with city
governments in the sense that country
level diplomacy will have a better
perspective of the local dimension of
international issues for example how do
agreements and say health agriculture
education makes sense to cities like
Cebu Tacloban dumaguete Davao these are
important perspectives that are often
missed out because
country level diplomacy almost often
makes a broad and sweeping view for
foreign policy to be felt by the people
it must be brought closer to the people
the establishment of a specialized
office to empower cities in global
affairs
it’s only one side of the coin the
success of this endeavor also rests
heavily on the creation of the office of
Foreign Affairs within city hall yet
before cities can create an office of
Foreign Affairs cities need to think
about how it can harness the a khadeem
its diverse population the media
businesses everything that shapes its
entire identity in such a way that it
will be able to tell a compelling story
bridging this city to the rest of the
international community this point to
ponder can prove to be an important
springboard when cities want to create
ties with the rest of the world so today
I want to start by letting you ask two
questions number one what story do I
want my city to tell the rest of the
world and second why should the rest of
the world listen to my city this effort
requires the city to develop a strong
framework to support its global vision
City Hall’s office of foreign affairs
must work closely with a mayor in
coordinating with a foreign ministry’s
office of city diplomacy and in
strengthening the city’s international
thighs once concrete ways of working
have been developed cities will need to
formally establish their presence
overseas cities can achieve this by
deploying city diplomats in other cities
where it has key strategic interests
this also means that the city mayor and
other officials must travel overseas
regularly to meet with our counterparts
to discuss how they can make things
happen for both of their cities this is
an initiative that cities like Toronto
for example have already done today City
Hall’s office of foreign affairs will
play a critical role
not only in attracting investments
talent and travelers but more
importantly in helping local
constituents better understand how
international issues and their country’s
foreign policy make sense in their daily
lives
cities can help ministries of Foreign
Affairs understand why citizens like you
and me feel a certain way about certain
global affairs issues
this will help ministries in creating
and recalibrating strategic and tactical
plans to advance gnashed national
interests which is truly a
representative of what we need as a
people working closely with city
governments will help the national
government localize international
development targets by crafting action
plans from the bottom up this ensures
that plants are more responsive and that
they truly represent what everyone needs
instead of fighting over the same piece
of pie cities and national governments
can take on diplomatic activities that
complement each other thereby amplifying
each other’s efforts both the city and
the national government will stand to
gain from this arrangement cities
represents something that is closer to
the everyday lives of citizens where the
national government can help give cities
a boost by linking the local to the
global
cities can therefore significantly help
the national government achieve the
city’s global commitments especially on
a range of issues such as peace and
security equality economic growth
conversely City stunts again by having a
clear and formal structure integrating
the national governments Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to the city or to the
local government and through the
strength of these connections it can
fully equip both city and national
government as we hurtle into the future
cities can lead and developing local
salut
and forging partnerships aimed at
achieving the 2030 agenda for
sustainable development which require
urban solutions cities can also help in
promoting art culture and even tourism
internationally because whether we like
it or not each city has a distinct
personality that must be marketed and it
must be told to the rest of the world
which is independent from the rest of
the country the greatest challenge lies
in garnering enough political support
from its citizens and changing the
mindset of city leaders on the global
nature of cities today the success of
City diplomacy rests on convincing
citizens that each of us has a role to
play in global affairs September 2015
marked an important milestone in the
global development agenda the year
marked the beginning of our collective
journey towards achieving the most
aspirational goals to date the 2030
agenda for sustainable development
spanning 17 sustainable development
goals and 169 underpinning targets these
address the greatest challenges of our
time the SDGs are intertwined and
indivisible this means only one thing
that everyone is required to join in
that all hands need to be on deck all
these cities and many other key areas
that they cover innovation economic
growth equality organization climate
change these are among the global goals
thus makes cities crucial not only as
focal points in the sustainable
development agenda but as key sectors in
helping us achieve the future that we
want however in order for us to achieve
this on the dot our cities need to make
their voices heard on the global
negotiation table we all live in
that are considered the new normal what
we need is a radical shift from the
business-as-usual approach in order for
us to overcome our existential
challenges empowering cities as major
players in global affairs and developing
a concrete framework to strengthen the
ties binding country level and City
diplomacy represents this radical yet
necessary shift as cities gain more
power and influence in the coming year
cities will cease to be mere spectators
in global affairs rather cities
Dumaguete City included cities are
poised to become important players and
the country’s most important partner in
enabling all of us to achieve the future
we have always dreamed of thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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