The Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Edgardo Riveros, took part today in the plenary session of the VIII Meeting of Chancellors of the Forum of East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), held in Busan, South Korea, and attended by the President of that country, Moon Jae-in.
In his speech, the Undersecretary valued the role played by FEALAC, describing it as "a privileged instance that links Asia with the American coasts of the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean, constituting one of the largest forums for cooperation among UN members".
In that sense, he highlighted the commitment of the member states to "take concrete steps to develop the procedure that will be necessary to reformulate the Forum internally, which will be effective enough to give it a renewed dynamic and in keeping with the times". And, in that sense, he reiterated that Chile "will make its best effort to move towards a more dynamic, efficient and inclusive FEALAC, capable of capturing the desires for a concrete rapprochement between our two regions".
Also, he acknowledged the important contributions that the Republic of Korea made to revive the Forum. "We believe that initiatives such as the functioning of the Virtual Secretariat, the formulation of the Vision Group, the proposal to create a FEALAC Fund and a renewed Action Plan signifies an invaluable effort and commitment that will allow us to make decisive progress in the much-needed reactivation of our interregional Forum", he stressed.
During its almost two decades of existence, FEALAC has been a relevant instance for Chile in its relationship with Asia Pacific, especially since it was, together with Singapore, one of its founders in 1999.
FEALAC is the only permanent multilateral consultation mechanism between the two regions and brings together 20 Latin American countries and 16 East Asian countries. The Forum seeks to facilitate greater inter-regional political dialogue, knowledge and exchange of experiences, as well as the creation of new mechanisms for cooperation and joint action in various areas.
Call for Peace
During his speech at the plenary session, Under Secretary Riveros expressed Chile's "deep wish to have peace and understanding prevail in the Korean peninsula". In that regard, he recalled that Chile had repeatedly expressed its concern about the consequences that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile programme could have for peace and security in North-East Asia.
"Chile supports the objective of the international community of peacefully overcoming the tensions. The United Nations Security Council has approved numerous resolutions on the subject, which Chile has implemented without reservation, thus expressing a commitment to a diplomatic and political solution of the situation through dialogue among all actors", he said.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Chilean Government "supports the leadership role and the special efforts being made by the Republic of Korea to create conditions conducive to greater rapprochement and the peaceful solution of the disagreements, with respect for the sovereignty of all States."