APEC host provides lavish food, facilities for journalists
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Vladivostok, Russia | World | Fri, September 07 2012, 7:28 AM
Paper Edition | Page: 12
For the organizers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, a well-fed journalist is good news.
At least that is the premise that host Russia appears to be trying to build during this week’s APEC Summit in Russia’s eastern most city of Vladivostok.
At the 11th floor of the international media center building inside the Far East Federal University compound on Russky Island, where the prestigious event is being held, an array of local cuisines have been prepared on a daily basis to indulge journalists.
The food is prepared to replicate a five-star hotel buffet, with a dozen main courses, appetizers and deserts made available.
Freshly prepared crab, prawn, shell, salmon, pork and beef steak, and even Spanish paella are available simultaneously. Coffee, sandwiches, bread, fruit and drinks are also available around the clock in every corner of the building.
These facilities are not even enjoyed by delegate members, who are all banned from accessing them.
“We don’t even have such refreshments in the adjacent buildings for delegates,” said an Indonesian official.
The media center is also equipped with at least 500 personal computers and telephones, from which journalists can call anyone, in any corner of the world, for free.
“You can even use the phone to call your partner at home for hours,” said one Indonesian journalist.
The generosity of the host nation does not end there. Journalists are also entitled to a goodie bag that consists of a Russian replica of an Amazon Kindle tablet and a fancy APEC raincoat.
To add to this, the media center is filled with dozens of volunteers, kindly assisting journalists around the clock, from translating the Russian language to helping out with setting up computers, printouts and even chatting to pass the boredom.
The APEC leaders’ meeting, which will be attended by the heads of governments of 21 Pacific-rim member economies, is slated to be held on Sept. 8-9. A series of ministerial and senior official meetings have been taking place since Sept. 2.
