1. The Cyber Secretariat of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) will hold its fifth workshop in Seoul on March 12 under the theme of “Strengthening Solidarity through Expanding FEALAC-wide Projects.” The event will bring together delegates from 30-odd member states of FEALAC.

◦ At the workshop, the participants will review the progress of the FEALAC-wide projects participated in jointly by member states and discuss in depth new such projects.

◦ On the sidelines of the workshop, a meeting of the FEALAC coordinating countries will be held to discuss the way forward for FEALAC and matters related to the FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled to take place in Costa Rica in August.

* FEALAC is the only multilateral inter-governmental consultative mechanism between East Asia and Latin America launched in 1999 and composed of 36 member states -- 16 East Asian and 20 Latin American.

2. At the meeting, the Republic of Korea will propose forming a group of trade experts in a bid to step up discussions on economic cooperation between East Asia and Latin America.

◦ Given that multiple discussions are under way in East Asia and Latin America with respect to such free trade deals as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the purpose of the group is to help the FEALAC member states better understand the matters regarding the discussions.

3. Since the launch of FEALAC in 1999, the ROK has been contributing actively to the development of FEALAC by serving as a Regional Coordinator of East Asia and hosting and operating the Cyber Secretariat. The forthcoming workshop and the meeting of the coordinating countries are expected to further put spotlight on the ROK’s contributions toward FEALAC. 


               Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation