INDONESIA TO HOST FORUM FOR EAST ASIA-LATIN AMERICA FEALAC

Jakarta, June 3 (ANTARA News)- Bali province is to host the 6th Ministerial Meeting of members of Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) next June 13-14 in Badung district, Foreign Affairs Ministry`s Director General for America and Europe Affairs Dian Triansyah Djani said here on Monday.

"Countries in East Asia and Latin America enjoy stable economic growth during the past years. Trade between countries in the two regions covers 30 percent of total world trade with combination of GDP reaching 34 percent of the world`s total GDP. Indonesia sees this situation as an opportunity for countries in both regions to boost cooperation in various sectors," he said.

From Indonesian perspective, he said, cooperation can be complementary. For example Indonesia and Brazil (both own huge biodiversity) can cooperate in the tourism sector or countries in Latin America who produce grain can share their knowledge to Asian countries who produce rice.

However he highlighted the need for related parties to improve connectivity in order to gain maximum advantage of cooperation in the future.

"We encourage airline companies in either Asian countries or Latin American countries to provide direct flight to and from the two regions," he said.

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 33 countries, 15 from Asia (10 ASEAN member countries, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand) and 18 from Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela).

Up till now ministers from 25 out of total 33 members of FEALAC have confirmed their attendance in the upcoming meeting in Bali. Apart from ministers, FEALAC meeting in Bali will also be participated in by ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh and representative from Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

FEALAC activity in Bali will be co-hosted by Indonesia and Colombia.

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