On October 6, MGIMO hosted "The Philippines Day," an event marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Philippines. The event was organized by the ASEAN Centre and the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Moscow with the support of the Embassy of Russia in the Philippines.

The Philippines Day featured a conference where presentations were delivered by the representatives of the Russian and Philippine academic communities, as well as by the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines, H.E. Igor Bailen. Researchers discussed political, social, and economic agenda in the bilateral relations; addressed issues regarding investment and promising areas of cooperation between Moscow and Manila; and noted the growing interest among Russian students in learning the Filipino language.

At the opening ceremony, welcoming remarks were delivered by the Russian Ambassador to the Philippines, H.E. Marat Pavlov; the Philippine Ambassador to Russia, H.E. Igor Bailen; and the Director of the ASEAN Centre, Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova.

A session dedicated to the achievements of the 50-year diplomatic relationship between Russia and the Philippines featured presentations by Dr. Nina Prakapovich, Expert at the ASEAN Centre; Mr. Artyom Tsinamdzgvrishvili, Trade Representative of the Russian Federation; Dr. Carlos Tabunda, Director of the Russian Centre at New Era University; and John Paul T. Mondejar, Director of the International Relations Department at the University of San Augustine.

In the session titled "Russia and the Philippines: Building Sustainable Economic Integration in a Changing Global Economy," speakers included Ms. Army Lopez Garcia, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in the Philippines; Mr. Daniyar Akkaziev, Executive Director of the Russia-ASEAN Business Council; Mr. Amerigo Tatel, Chief Executive Officer of B2BVostok Group; and Ms. Victoria Zakharova, a junior researcher at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICCA RAS), and Ms. Vera Golikova of the Institute of International Relations and World Economy discussed promising areas of cooperation between Russia and the Philippines.

During the final session – dedicated to the study of the Philippine literature through the lens of translation into Russian – H.E. Igor Bailen, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Russia, and Dr. Ekaterina Baklanova, Associate Professor at the Department of Philology of Southeast Asia, Korea, and Mongolia, Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Moscow State University shared their research findings and discussed the prospects for Russian-Philippine literary studies.

Philippine nationals studying at MGIMO, as well as IAAC students studying the Filipino language, also took part in the Philippines Day event at MGIMO.