30 August 2013 – Philippine Ambassador to Italy Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr., as Chair of the ASEAN Committee in Rome (ACR), led the ceremony honoring the 46^th anniversary of the Founding of ASEAN at the Philippine Embassy social hall on August 12. Together with the Ambassadors and diplomats from the ASEAN and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) member countries, ASEAN Day was commemorated with a flag-raising ceremony, the singing of the ASEAN Hymn, and speeches from the Philippine Ambassador and the representative from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cons. Ambassador Antonio Verde. 

Ambassador Reyes gave a speech, in English and Italian, on the continued relevance of the aims and vision of the Bangkok Declaration, the forthcoming ASEAN Community 2015, the celebration of 40 years of ASEAN-EU Friendship this year and the ASEAN-EU Plan of Action, as well as the Italian MFA’s initiative to organize the ASEAN Awareness Forum in March last year to highlight the ASEAN as a region for Italian trade and investment 

In turn, MFA’s Mr. Verde noted Italy’s keen interest in the significant developments taking place within ASEAN, in particular its progressive consolidation on the institutional level, and its community-building efforts with the aim of establishing an ASEAN community by 2015. His speech noted the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in April 2012 and the ASEAN-EU Post Ministerial Conference (PMC) and ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei this year, and also touched on regional Free Trade Agreements, the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and initiatives related to the ASEAN Awareness Forum. 

The formal part of the ASEAN Day celebration concluded with a toast and photo-taking, followed by morning tea. END