CONGEN FLORES ATTENDS 9^th JOINT MECHANISM MEETING

• • • Top left photo: The 9^th Joint Mechanism Meeting hosted by Xiamen Foreign Affairs Director General Hong Chengzong (4^th from left)
    • Top right photo: (L-R): Thai Deputy Consul General Mongkol Sinsomboon, Thai Consul General Pachuen Phornmongkol, Consul General Julius Caesar A. Flores, and Consul Ambrosio Enciso during the 9^th Joint Mechanism Meeting

 Philippine Consul General Julius Caesar A. Flores attended the 9^th Joint Meeting of the Four Party Mechanism.

 The Four Party Mechanism comprises the Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) and the Consulates General of the Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Singapore and the Kingdom of Thailand in Xiamen held on 14 August 2014 on Gulangyu Islet, Xiamen City.

The meeting was presided over by Xiamen FAO Director General Hong Chengzong assisted by other FAO officers.  Also present during the meeting were the Consuls General of Thailand and Singapore and their respective delegations. Xiamen Daily, a local media outlet, was also represented.

The meeting assessed the results of the 4^th Nanyang Culture Festival held in Xiamen from 28 March 2014 to 04 April 2014 and to get inputs and ideas from the Four Parties on how to further improve the conduct of the biennial Festival, in preparation for the 5^th Nanyang Festival in 2016.

Among the issues agreed upon by the parties were the streamlining of the activities during the festival to facilitate logistics, upgrading the festival to a higher level, and to finalize preparations for the event at least six months before the actual Festival to give the participating countries ample time to organize their respective delegations

Upon the proposal of Congen Flores, the parties also agreed to encourage participation by national leaders and other agencies from ASEAN, persuade more private institutions from the ASEAN to participate including schools and universities, and identify early on the products to be brought by each ASEAN country to avoid competition with other participating countries. ConGen Flores also recommended that there should be more activities that would encourage people-to-people interaction to understand both the Chinese and ASEAN cultures. He also informed the body that the Philippines could assist the Gulangyo Administration in the latter’s desire to have Gulangyo Islet included in the list of World’s Heritage Sites with a cooperation program of technical assistance and cultural performances.

DG Hong lauded the great team work of the core group during the 4^th Nanyang Cultural Festival that caught the attention of national authorities in Beijing. He said that he was also offered support by ASEAN embassies in Beijing for the next Nanyang Festival. END