20 November 2013 – Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Evan P. Garcia and Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Burkhalter met at the sidelines of the 11th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held from November 11 to 12 in New Delhi.

Philippine-Swiss relations are moving forward from being focused on trade since 1862 to achieving current global objectives.  Switzerland agreed to co-host two Philippine ASEM initiatives: the “ASEM Conference on Technology and Innovation for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Climate Change Adaptation” and the “ASEM International Experts’ Workshop on the Restitution of Hidden Wealth and Prevention of Tax Evasion.”  Both workshops will be held in 2014.

Both officials agreed that the ASEM Conference on Technology and Innovation for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Climate Change Adaptation is timely given the increasing strength of natural disasters that have been affecting even non-traditional regions in recent years.  An exchange of knowledge from disaster risk reduction and management, and climate change adaptation techniques would equally benefit European and Asian countries. END