22 December 2014 – Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr. represented the country at the 24th Ibero-American Summit, held from December 07 to 09, in the port city of Veracruz, Mexico. The theme for this year’s Summit was “Education, Culture, and Innovation in a World of Transformation.”
All of the 22 Ibero-American member-countries were represented at the Summit by their respective Head of State or deputy. Presiding over the event alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was the new Ibero-American Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, a former Second Vice-President of Costa Rica and former UN Under-Secretary-General. Spain was represented by its new King, Felipe VI, in his first appearance at the Ibero-American Summit.
The major outcomes of the 24th Ibero-American Summit included initiatives and commitments regarding institutional renewal; education, literacy, life-long learning, and academic mobility; the creation of a Latin American cultural agenda and democratization of access to culture; facilitation of knowledge exchange and research networks to promote innovation; creation of venues to strengthen youth citizenship in Latin America; and the continued support for the Ibero-American Indigenous Support Fund.
Ambassador Dilem represented Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario in attending the Ministerial Meeting for Associate Observer States on December 07. He was accompanied by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Mikhal de Dios. This was the fifth time for the Philippines to participate as an Associate Observer.
The Meeting was presided over by the Ministers of the Troika (past, present, and future chairs): Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Antonio Meade Kuribreña; Panamanian Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapié; and Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar.
Ambassador Dilem conveyed the greetings of President Benigno S. Aquino III and Secretary Del Rosario, and delivered an intervention that highlighted the specific Ibero-American programs in which the Philippines has shown interest and emphasized the common cultural link that the Philippines shares with the Ibero-American states. This was welcomed by Secretary Meade and Secretary-General Grynspan. END