08 January 2004 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo-Albert Eleven announced today that 18 foreign ministers and two (2) deputy foreign ministers have confirmed their participation in the 2nd Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM II) of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) to be held in Manila on 28-31 January 2004.

Among those who have confirmed their attendance are Foreign Ministers Mohamed Bolkiah of Brunei, Hor Namhong of Cambodia, Dr. Nur Hassan Wirajuda of Indonesia, Yoon Young-Kwan of the Republic of Korea, Somsabat Lengsavad of  Laos, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar of Malaysia, Phil Goff of New Zealand, S. Jayakumar of Singapore, Surakiart Sathirathai of Thailand, Nguyen Dy Nien of Vietnam; and Foreign Ministers Celso Amorim of Brazil; Soledad Alvear of Chile, Carolina Barco of Colombia, Roberto Tovar Faja of Costa Rica, Felipe Perez Roque of Cuba, Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila of El Salvador, Harmodio Arias Cerjack of Panama and Roy Chaderton of Venezuela.

Japan will be represented by its Senior Vice Minister Masatoshi Abe while Myanmar will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Thu.

“The Philippines’ hosting of the FEALAC meetings this month shows that the Philippines plays a vital role in linking Latin America with East Asia, and I am happy with the enthusiastic response of the foreign ministers of the FEALAC member-countries,” Secretary Albert said, also noting that Latin America is a rapidly growing market of more than 500 million consumers.

FEALAC is composed of 32 member countries including the Philippines.  Members from the East Asian region are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Latin American countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.  Guatemala and Nicaragua will be admitted as new members during the FMM II this January.

The meeting will result in a Manila Plan of Action that will set the Forum’s direction for the next few years. Discussions will also include ways of strengthening economic cooperation among FEALAC members and greater cooperation in trade, education, science and technology.  END.