FSI Joins Seminar on ASEAN-PRC Relations

FSI Director General Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III and Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz (first row, 5th from left) join co-hosts ASEAN-China Center Secretary General Shi Zhongjun (first row, 6th from left) and Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Norman Muhamad (first row, 7th from left) and other ASEAN and PRC participants.

BEIJING 27 February 2025 – The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), through its Director General Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III, was invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to attend the High-Level Think Tank Seminar on ASEAN-China Relations held on 21 February 2025, in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The event, co-organized by the ASEAN-China Center (ACC) and the Embassy of Malaysia in China, brought together high-level officials from diplomatic academies and scholars from ASEAN and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Ambassador Jaime A. FlorCruz and Third Secretary Reinir C. Padua from the Philippine Embassy in Beijing joined FSI’s Fernandez, Biodiversity Studies Section Chief Andrea Kristine G. Molina and External Relations Officer Justine Joyce T. Estolano

The seminar centered on the topic “Navigating the Future of ASEAN-China Relations: Challenges and Opportunities.” In his presentation, Fernandez emphasized the importance of protecting our waters as a common resource and highlighted the role of science diplomacy as a platform for collaboration between ASEAN and PRC on shared environmental goals without jeopardizing national interests. He also proposed ways forward on further strengthening regional cooperation through ASEAN-led environmental programs which can lay the foundation for long-term sustainability, stability, and prosperity in the region. Other participants underscored the importance of continuously expanding and strengthening ASEAN-PRC relations through trade and people-to-people exchanges and the promotion of ASEAN centrality as a key to maintaining regional stability.

The ACC is an inter-governmental organization co-founded by the 10 ASEAN Member States and the People’s Republic of China. Its Secretariat is located in Beijing. FSI is the training and research agency attached to the DFA which was created under Presidential Decree No. 1060. Its remit was expanded by Republic Act No. 7157. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs chairs the FSI Board with the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Director General of FSI, President of the University of the Philippines (UP), and President of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) as members. END