ASEAN-Chile Chart Way Forward in a Synergies Dialogue and Gastronomic Event
Photos from the ASEAN-Chile Dialogue: Exploring Synergies for the Future and Gastronomic Event: Flavors of Southeast Asia held in Central Santiago on 2 August 2023
SANTIAGO 08 August 2023 – The Philippine Embassy in Chile, alongside other members of the ASEAN Committee in Santiago—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam—joined high-level officials of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren, in successfully conducting the first-ever ASEAN-Chile Dialogue and Gastronomic Event held at the MFA building in Teatinos, Central Santiago on 02 August 2023.
The ASEAN-Chile Dialogue: Exploring Synergies for the Future was an initiative of the MFA’s DIRAPAC or Directorate for Asia and the Pacific (DIRAPAC). The dialogue served as a 2-day foreign policy exercise for MFA officials and Chilean policy-makers seeking to promote discussions and strategic collaborations between Chile and ASEAN—with the end goal of crafting an ASEAN-Chile Roadmap in a drafting session scheduled on August 3.
The dialogue also highlighted the geopolitical and economic importance of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia vis-à-vis Chile’s long-term foreign policy priorities, economic pivot toward the region, and its Practical Cooperation Areas (PCAs) under the ASEAN-Chile Development Partnership.
Speaking on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), its principles, and related ASEAN-Chile PCAs, PHL Ambassador to Chile Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat invited MFA officials and attendees to consider framing ASEAN-Chile economic engagement within 10 vital and intersecting areas: (1) the ASEAN Single Window, (2) Consumer Protection, (3) Mining and Mineral Cooperation, (4) Science and Technology, (5) Agriculture, (6) Non-Conventional Renewable Energy, (7) Tourism Promotion, (8) Micro Small and Medium Enterprises or MSMEs, and (9) Free Trade Agreements and Comprehensive Economic Partnerships, and (10) Incorporating the Gender Dimension in Government Policies.
With the AEC and PCAs guiding the trajectory of ASEAN-Chile aspirations, Ambassador Balatbat invited all participating Chilean officials and stakeholders to ponder “How do we [ASEAN and Chile] get there?”, while at the same time emphasizing the “need to take stock of its existing partnership and development objectives as the AEC Blueprint 2025, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, and the ASEAN-Chile PCAs for Development Partnership collectively approach the end of their individual timelines by 2025.”
The Ambassadors of other ACS members discussed the general history of ASEAN (Viet Nam), the ASEAN Political-Security Community (Malaysia), the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (Thailand), and ASEAN’s External Relations and 2025 Chairmanship Priorities (Indonesia).
Also speaking for Chile’s part were MFA officials from DIRAPAC on the Trajectory of Chile-ASEAN, AGCID (Agency for International Cooperation and Development) on Chile-ASEAN Cooperation, SUBREI (Subsecretariat for International Economic Relations) on Perceptions and Challenges of Trade with ASEAN, and DIPLANE (Directorate for Strategic Planning) on Long-Term View of Chile-ASEAN Relations.
The succeeding ASEAN Gastronomic Event: Flavors of Southeast Asia was inaugurated by no less than CHL Foreign Minister Van Klaveren, who, in his opening remarks, enthusiastically shared how one of Chile’s founding fathers, Bernardo O’Higgins, “once upon a time set his eyes in equally helping liberate the Philippines from Spanish rule.” He also outlined the “broad spectrum of cooperation under the ASEAN-Chile PCAs, most especially on the environment, ocean and maritime cooperation, free trade and sea links, smart cities, and energy transition.”
To highlight our common Hispanic heritage with Chile, the Philippine booth featured a vertical display of the Carta Hydrographica y Chronographica de las Yslas Filipinas or the Murillo-Velarde Map of 1734, whose digital image was courtesy of Chairman and CEO Mel Velasco Velarde of Velarde Inc. The map is also known as the “Mother of All Philippine Maps” being the first scientific map of the entire Philippine archipelago. It served as a key piece of evidence for the South China Sea Arbitration Case.
A second centerpiece was a quincentennial commemoration basket of Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, which was showcased alongside colorful Fiestas Filipinas boxes, top-selling Filipino dried fruits and snacks, as well as artisanal and Capiz shell-based jewelries and display items.
Foreign Minister Van Klaveren, with an estimated 200 plus visitors for the event, visited the Philippine booth and enjoyed generous servings of lumpiang shanghai, Filipino coconut macaroons, and Cebu dried mangoes. The Chilean Foreign Minister also took home his own pack of Cebu’s dried mangoes, courtesy of the Philippine Embassy.
The same 200 attendees from the ASEAN-Chile Dialogue and Gastronomic Event will be invited by the Philippines and rest of ACS to the forthcoming 56th Anniversary of the Founding of ASEAN on 08 August 2023. END
Photos from the ASEAN-Chile Gastronomic Event: Flavors of Southeast Asia as the Chilean FM share a laugh with ACS Ambassadors and visit the PHL booth to sample Filipino dried mangoes.
For more information, visit https://www.santiagope.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChile.