19 November 2014 – As part of the Philippine Embassy’s engagement with the Asia 11 Group of Heads of Diplomatic Mission, Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Virginia H. Benavidez hosted a luncheon for the Thai Ambassador and Dean of the Asia 11 group, Noppaddon Theppitak, South Korean Ambassador Yongkyu Park, Singapore High Commissioner Peter Chan, Japanese Ambassador Yasuaki Nogawa, Pakistan High Commissioner Zehra Akbari, Indian High Commissioner Ravi Thapar, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Viet Dung, Malaysian High Commissioner Dato’ Lim Kim Eng, and Mr. Paul Sinclair, Regional Security Fellow, Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington as the guest speaker at the “Ang Bahay”, the Philippine Ambassador’s residence, on October 29.
The Asia 11 Group, set up in 2011, is composed of Heads of Mission of the six ASEAN countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, Japan, China, Korea, India and Pakistan who meet regularly once a month over lunch or dinner hosted on a rotational basis. The host can invite a guest speaker to interact with the Heads of Mission and take up matters of mutual interest.
Ambassador Benavidez invited Mr. Paul Sinclair, who shared his insights and analysis on regional security in the Asia Pacific region and New Zealand's priorities and outlook on regional and global security and related matters. The interactive luncheon focused on a range of issues relating to developments in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. This elicited active interest and several positive feedback from the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the Asia 11 Group.
It was a productive and meaningful luncheon meeting which served as a valuable opportunity to foster camaraderie and goodwill among the Asia 11 Group members, a useful forum for interacting with various invited speakers on a broad range of subjects and a worthwhile event for exchange of views, ideas and comments and discussion of topics in a relaxed and welcoming setting. END