PRO and Director for External Affairs Dr. Carlos Legaspi, Jr. attended the Welcome Dinner for the Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev in behalf of the Fr. President at the Masskara Hall of the New Government Center, May 4, 2018. Together with the ambassador is the 1st secretary of the Embassy of Russian Federation, Dimitry Larionov. The ambassador said that Russia is willing to help the Philippines in the areas of Nuclear technology, transportation (railway); Telecommunications, Agriculture, and Tourism. In the area of tourism, he said that Russia is sending 20 million tourists every year and the other neighboring nations like Thailand and Indonesia get a great share of the pie, and he cannot understand why are Russian tourists not aim for the Philippines. Last year only 40,000 Russian tourists visited the country. He attributed this to the negative attitude of the Philippines towards Russia in the past. He also appreciated the contaminating smile of the people of Bacolod. He said that when he goes back to Russia, he will teach his compatriots to smile more. He also hinted that Russia has helped the Philippine military force and has never supplied the country with “second hands”. He shared that Russia has made military alliances with other nations not to destroy another nation but to help promote peace and security must be for everyone.