Philippines hosts ASEAN Day celebration in Brasilia

The ASEAN Committee in Brasilia (ACB), currently under the chairmanship of the Philippines, held a reception to celebrate the 51st Anniversary of ASEAN Day at the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines on 27 September 2018.

His Excellency Mr. Ary Quintella, Acting Undersecretary of the Department for Asia and the Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, was the guest of honour. Also in attendance were the diplomatic corps of ASEAN Member Countries and ASEAN dialogue partners, and representatives of Brazilian Government agencies.

Ambassador Marichu Mauro, in her keynote address said, the celebration of 51st ASEAN Day is a tribute to ASEAN’s contributions to regional community-building in pursuit of peace and security, economic progress, and people-development.

“ASEAN has achieved significant gains in achieving  its aspiration to become an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based community,” she said.

Ambassador Mauro also took stock of ASEAN-Brazil relations which enjoy robust trade relations amounting to over USD 17 billion making ASEAN Brazil’s fourth largest trade partner.

“However, ASEAN-Brazil relations must expand more and deepen on all fronts particularly in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, energy, culture and education,” she added.

This sentiment was reiterated by guest of honour Ambassador Quintella in his keynote address.

“The deepening of relations between Brazil and the countries of Southeast Asia is an objective shared by our governments, with a strong potential for mutual benefits for our societies,” he said.

He added that this is one of the priorities of Brazilian foreign policy, evidenced by the recent visits to the countries of the region by Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes in September 2017 and last May, when he met in Jakarta with the ASEAN Secretary General, Dato Lim; as well as the Assistant Secretary-General for Asia and the Pacific, Ambassador Henrique Sardinha, last month for political consultations with the various ASEAN countries including the Philippines.