MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) housed the International Media Center (IMC) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Manila, Philippines on November 18 and 19, 2015 (APEC Philippines 2015). This was the second time that the Philippines hosted the APEC, having played host for the event previously in 1996. Coincidentally, the construction of the WTCMM was rushed in 1996 to be the venue for two events related to the first hosting of the APEC by the Philippines, namely, the Asia Pacific Trade Fair and the National Women’s Summit, where then US First Lady Hillary Clinton spoke before an audience of 15,000, consisting mostly of women.

         The APEC, consisting of 21 member-nations, is the premier economic forum in the Asia-Pacific for sustainable growth and prosperity. Notable attendees to APEC 2015 are US President Barack Obama, President Xi Jinping of China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia and President Benigno Simeon Aquino III of the host country.

         The IMC served as the base and headquarters for foreign and local media groups who provided global coverage for APEC 2015. Among the prominent media groups who were stationed in the IMC were CNN (Philippines), BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Eurovision, Australian Media, Al Jazeera, Hokkaido Shimbun Press, Nikkei Inc., Chinese Delegation Media, USTV Pool, Russian Federation, and those from Chile, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, among others. The IMC was the venue for major press briefings and press conferences related to APEC 2015, which were broadcasted live to different parts of the world.

         The halls of WTCMM were set up for, inter alia, offices of various media groups, small briefing rooms, a 1,000-person capacity main press working room for press conferences equipped with desktops and printers, stand-up booths, a master control room, lounges, massage center, clinic and the IMC secretariat. The IMC is equipped with world-class high-speed wifi internet allowing video streaming and broadcasting by over 3,000 international media practitioners housed at WTCMM.

         The WTCMM is a certified member of the World Trade Centers Association. Its exhibition facility has a virtually unobstructed ground floor space of 11,330 square meters (sq.m) with a floor-to-ceiling height of 10 meters, spacious pre-function lobby of 1,410 sq.m., plus 17,200 sq.m. of gated outdoor space. It also has functions rooms that could accommodate a maximum of 600 pesrons on a theater-style set-up. The WTCMM also played host to the prestigious 46th WTCA General Assembly in April of this year.

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