Brunei Warms Up To Asia-Latin America Link

Bandar Seri Begawan – His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs attended the opening of the Plenary of the second Foreign Ministers Meeting for the forum of East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) at the Philippines International Convention Centre in Manila.

The plenary session was co-chaired by Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Delia Domingo Albert and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Carolina Barco.

At the session, the Ministers approved the admission of Nicaragua and Guatemala as new members of FEALAC.

With the inclusion of the two memberships FEALAC now has 32 member countries from East Asia and Latin America.

After the opening plenary of the second FEALAC Foreign Ministers, His Royal Highness joined other Ministers for a brief ceremony of unveiling FEALAC marker at the Tagaytay Convention Centre in Tagatay City one and a half hour drive from Manila.

The marker commemorates the coming together of the 32 FEALAC foreign ministers that aims to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the regions of East Asia and Latin America.

Through the forum, Brunei would like to get the potential benefits from its membership in FEALAC, a Brunei delegation member said.

Therefore, Brunei encourages active participation of its lead agencies and academia in coming up with project proposals, which address requirements of the country in areas such as practices in SMEs, education, science and technology and cultural exchanges.

His Royal Highness then attended a luncheon given by Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines.

The Foreign Ministers later attended the FEALAC Ministerial Retreat held in Tagaytay Highlands.

The Ministerial is a more relaxed and informal mechanism by which the Foreign Ministers are able to interact with their counterparts and discuss matters of mutual interest to their country.

Meanwhile, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs attended a dinner for FEAT AC Foreign Ministers on Thursday night.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo President of the Republic of the Philippines, hosted the dinner at the Malacanang Palace.

Brunei considers the FEALAC process as a very important since it can be used as a platform to enhance and strengthen its relationship with the Latin American countries. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei 

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