East Asia, Latin America Pledge To Boost Future Coop

Nusa Dua, Bali, June 13 (Antara) - Representative from East Asia and Latin American countries during the 6th Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting of Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) make pledge to boost cooperation in the future. "We the FEALAC economies contribute 30 percent of world`s GDP, approximately 30 percent of world`s trade and 24 percent of world`s foreign direct investment. The share of FEALAC in the world far surpasses that of UN and EU. Even so, there are plenty of room for enhancement of cooperation in the future," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Thursday during the opening of the conference. The minister who is also co-chair of the FEALAC meeting said the challenge of enhancing cooperation between East Asia and Latin American countries is how to maintain positive economic growth in the two region amid world`s economic crisis. Meanwhile Colombia`s Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Monica Lanzetta who is also co-chair of the FEALAC meeting expressed hope for the success of cooperation between East Asia and Latin America in the future particularly in sectors such as tourism, education exchange, trade and climate change. Last June 4 to 6 representatives from FEALAC members have met in Bali to discuss future framework of cooperation between East Asia and Latin America countries. Among recommendations made by the representatives are fostering more inter-regional dialogue involving government officials and people to increase connectivity and understanding among FEALAC members, establishing Business Connectivity Group and university network and developing cooperation in science and technology. Indonesia and Colombia are co-host of the 6th Foreign Ministers Meeting of Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) held in Nusa Dua, Bali, starting June 13 to14. The meeting aims to establish mutual understanding, political dialogue and increase friendly cooperation between countries in the two regions. According to information from Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry about 26 ministers or vice ministers out of total 34 member countries of FEALAC attend the meeting. Apart from ministers, FEALAC meeting in Bali is also participated in by representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). FEALAC was established in 1999 as an informal forum to link Asian and Latin American countries. As the only forum bridging the two regions, FEALAC has recently developed its membership to include 34 countries namely Argentina, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nicaragua, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Suriname and Paraguay.