PCGNY.net | News Release

New York Consulate, Trade Office end furniture show with cocktail reception

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE - NEWS RELEASE
16 March 2007

NEW YORK --- On Wednesday, February 28, the Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in New York (PITC-NY) officially marked the end of the two-month Philippine furniture and home furnishings exhibit entitled, “Celebrating Philippine Design.” The reception was held at the Kalayaan Hall, Philippine Center, which was also the official site of the exhibit.

During the reception, Consul General Cecilia Rebong formally welcomed and thanked the visitors for coming to the reception. She also explained that the exhibit was part of the Post’s and the Trade Office’s on-going projects to more aggressively promote the best of Philippine products and services in the American mainstream.

Towards the end of the reception, Ms. Josephine Romero of PTIC-NY informed the visitors that many of the pieces in the exhibit can also be viewed in two on-going international furniture shows in the Philippines, namely, the Philippine International Furniture Show in Manila (Feb. 27 to March 2, 2007) and the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition (Feb. 26 to March 1, 2007). Ms. Romero invited the visitors to both (and future Philippine) furniture shows.

To liven up the reception, PTIC-NY raffled-off one (1) piece of an art-wall. The lucky winner was Mr. Jess Villarina, Vice President for Global Payments of HSBC.

The furniture exhibit ran from January to February. During the period, world-class Philippine furniture and home furnishings were displayed at the Kalayaan Hall. A few pieces were also displayed at the glass façade of the Philippine Center to take advantage of the Center’s strategic advertising value: It sits right on Fifth Avenue, between 45th and 46th Streets, and is within walking distance from New York City’s top tourist destinations such as The Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, The Empire State Building, and Times Square.

During its two-month run, the exhibit drew a lot of visitors even though viewing was by appointment. Many of them were interior decorators and wholesalers, and representatives of architectural and interior designs firms in New York City. Others were plain citizens and tourists who asked to view the exhibit after seeing the “interesting pieces of furniture” while strolling along Fifth Avenue.