Mexico City (VNA) – Representatives from seve🌸ral embassies of member states of ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance gathered in Mexico City on July 21 to discuss orientation and measures to further promote cooperation between the two blocs.

The event, initiated by Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico Le Linh Lan, drew Mexican Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean Socorro Flores Liera. During the meeting, Ambassador Lan spoke highly of the role played by the two groups in boosting trans-Pacific relations and their significant contributions to maintaining peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the globe. She highlighted similarities in culture, history and the economy among member nations of the two blocs, the building of the ASEAN Community, and opportunities for cooperation and experience sharing between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance over the last five years. The diplomat expressed her belief that close links between the two blocs will contribute to their member nations’ economic development. Socorro Flores Liera and the diplomats hailed Ambassador Lan for her initiatives to promote connection between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance. They shared their optimism on the trend of regional links in all fields, saying that they completely believed in a fruitful cooperation between the two blocs in the future. Participants focused their discussions on cooperation priorities in the time ahead, including how to improve competitiveness in the global market for small and-medium-sized enterprises and the opening of direct air routes between the two regions. They also stressed the need for the two groups to foster links in information sharing, tourism and education. Regarding global issues, the diplomats underlined that it is necessary to share information on poverty reduction, natural disaster prevention, and climate change adaptation. On specific cooperation between the two blocs in Mexico, the participants agreed to hold joint activities, including workshops and culture promotion activities. ASEAN groups 10 nations - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, while the Pacific Alliance is a Latin American trade bloc, comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.-VNA