FEALAC faced with the challenges of the global economy

The III Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for East Asia – Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) took place in Brasília on the 22nd and 23rd of August.
FEALAC brings together 33 countries (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brunei, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Uruguay and Venezuela) and was created as an institutional mechanism for forging closer political relationships at a high level, as well as for strengthening economic, political and cultural ties between the two regions. The Forum promotes economic and social co-operation, as well as an exchange of ideas in areas such as development, market strategies, education, and the formation of human capital, training, and job creation.
Faced with the challenges of the global economy, the members attach great importance to the promotion of trade and investment within the FEALAC framework, and to the role trade and investment play in creating prosperity for their populations.
Foreign ministers and envoys from 33 countries opened two days of talks to boost FEALAC co-host, Brazilian President Jose Luis Lula da Silva, urged the economy ministers and central bank chiefs of the group to "develop the habit of meeting ... to find out how we can arm ourselves to deal with crises that often are out of our hands."
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that while financial trouble in rich nations "affect us all," Latin America and Caribbean economies of late "have advanced and their markets have achieved greater stability."
Representatives of East Asian nations, meanwhile, appeared less concerned with the current US market turmoil.
In his opening remarks, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Fealac "can well be the greatest ocean-connecting bridge," referring to the two regions separated by the vast Pacific Ocean.
Opening the meeting, Amorim called for countries to "explore common interests" between the distant regions.
"We all understand the importance of South-South cooperation," he said.
The forum's next meeting will be held in three years time in Tokyo.
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