Madrid Fusión Manila: A triumph of public-private partnership

MANILA, Philippines – “We are honored and thrilled that Madrid Fusión  Manila (MFM) has become a gastronomical milestone for the Philippines. People from all over the world have come to our country to see the future of food and to witness the single, most important conference for culinary in the 21st Century,” said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.  “Madrid Fusion Manila is indeed a triumph of public–private cooperation. It is a hallmark of collaboration not just among government agencies, but more importantly between the government and private sector.”

The highly-acclaimed Madrid Fusión Manila (MFM), the first and only Asian edition of Madrid Fusión  — Spain’s famous culinary event and one of the leading gastronomy gatherings in the world, made a successful, sizzling comeback last April 7 to 9 at the SMX Convention Center.

MFM 2016 witnessed a total of 8,616 trade expo attendees, a 43 percent increase from last year’s attendance; and 224 trade expo booths, a 28 percent growth from the 175 booths recorded in 2015. With this year’s theme of “The Manila Galleon: East Meets West,” the international gastronomy congress had 1,436 delegates who joined the elite chefs and experts in the culinary field in discussing the latest trends, evolution of tastes, and new food habits.

The event is part of the Department of Tourism (DOT)’s bigger lineup of tourism product offerings showcasing the country’s competitive advantage as a multi-level destination under its Visit the Philippines Again (VPA) 2016 campaign.

The event was organized by DOT with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), Foro de Debate and Arum Estrategias Internacionalizacion, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry.

“The Philippines really deserves recognition for being able to create a new reference for high-quality gastronomy in the region. I was really impressed by the quality of the event and by the excellent organization of the team led by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.,” said Jesus Garcia, Secretary of State for International Cooperation.

“The Department of Tourism has really managed to make Madrid Fusión  Manila even bigger and better than last year, which was really difficult,” added Spanish Ambassador Luis Calvo. “We are happy to have been able to take part again in this wonderful initiative that will help strengthen the links between our two countries.”

As chefs at Madrid Fusión  Manila (MFM) 2016 turned off the last stove, the international culinary rockstars, exhibitors, and foreign guests left Manila amazed at the local produce and homegrown culinary talents that they discovered in the Philippines.

“There is a lot of good ingredients in the Philippines, which should give everyone here the confidence to make it big,” said Japanese chef Yoshihiro Narisawa.

 “This is the best thing about the Philippines,” said Bali-based chef Kevin Cherkas as he pointed to Filipino chef Tatung Sarthou. “Talent. You have great talent here like Tatung.”          

 Madrid Fusión  Manila 2016 succeeded in showcasing the best of  Philippine cuisine, local produce, food products and exporters, and Filipino chefs against a dazzling background of international culinary legends, world-class gastronomical ideas and techniques.

“Through MFM, the Department of Agriculture was able to show to both local and international consumers and chefs the availability of various agricultural products and ingredients and how these may be used in various food preparations,” said Agriculture undersecretary Berna Romulo-Puyat.

“Madrid Fusión  Manila 2016 has definitely been a big success. We were again impressed by the effort and the passion that the Philippine government has put into making this possible,” said Enrique Feás, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Embassy of Spain. “MFM has become an excellent opportunity to promote high-quality gastronomic products in the region.”