Security concerns take lead in FEALAC meet

Security concerns take lead in FEALAC meet

Mynardo Macaraig Agence France-Presse Manila

Thirty-two East Asian and Latin American countries agreed at a ministerial meeting here on Friday to make security issues ranging from terrorism to transnational crime top priority as they seek to enhance ties between the two regions.

The second meeting of the Forum for East Asian-Latin American Cooperation (FEALAC) will discuss setting up a special working group on "politics and security" to be headed by Chile and Singapore, conference spokesman George Reyes said.

It was an unusual move for the young forum, which had previously focused largely on economic and cultural issues.

"What is important is that the ministers have recognized the importance of politics and security which (previously) had not even been mentioned in the forum," Reyes said.

Foreign ministers of 32 countries in the two regions headed to a retreat in the Tagaytay resort south of the Philippine capital to discuss the idea, he added.

Security concerns were identified as including drug- trafficking, international terrorism, transnational crimes, trafficking in arms, insurgency and even "infectious diseases", Reyes said.

The discussions are "not focused on just drugs or terrorism. It is the whole gamut."

However, the ministers did not go into specifics, Reyes said. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu virus have buffeted Asia in recent months.

Opening the two-day meeting, co-chairwoman Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco said the Americas had identified "a series of new threats to security".

These included terrorism, drug trafficking and arms-dealing on top of natural disasters, poverty and pandemics that required "decisive action" and on larger co-operation across the hemisphere.

"They demand urgent and frank discussion, since the dangers which the Americas have identified are not alien to Asia, or indeed anywhere in the world," she said.

Barco, who has pushed for the new focus on security, had cited the experience of Colombia against rebel groups funded by drug money.

Reyes said Cambodia later called for a special working group on security.

The ministers also took up a recommendation by senior officials that the forum should seek a resumption of the Doha round of trade talks and call for the elimination of agricultural subsidies in developed countries.

Reyes said Japan, one of few first-world countries in the meeting, did not object. He suggested that the Japanese were aware that this move was really aimed at Western Europe and North America.

They also discussed boosting trade and investment between the two regions and seeking a greater role for the forum in international gatherings.

"We should explore the feasibility of a regular dialog among FEALAC delegations to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other relevant fora," said Philippine Foreign Secretary Delia Albert.