Consul General and Dean of the Fujian Consular Corps Julius Caesar A. Flores led the participating ASEAN dignitaries in the 5th Nanyang Culture Festival during a courtesy call on Xiamen City Mayor Pei Jinjia on 22 April 2016. The Festival is jointly organized by the Four-Party Mechanism composing the Consulates General of the Philippines, Singapor and Thialand with the Xiamen Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (FOCAO).
The meeting was attended by seventeen VIPs including the Governor of Phuket, Thailand, the Cambodian Undersecretary for Culture and Fine Arts, the ASEAN-China Center Secretary General, the Brunei Darussalam and Myanmar Ambassadors to China, the Singapore and Thai Consuls General to Xiamen, the Cambodian, Laos, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese Consuls General to Guangzhou.
Mayor Pei made a comprehensive, enlightening and factual presentation of Xiamen City to the guests, highlighting the important political, economic and socio-cultural strides it has accomplished in 2015-2016. In response, Consul General Flores, on behalf of the Consular Corps in Xiamen and colleagues from Beijing and Guangzhou, conveyed heartfelt appreciation to the Xiamen City government for supporting the work of the three Consulates General in Xiamen, specially in the promotion of ASEAN countries through the Nanyang Festival. As 2016 is the year to commemorate the 20th ASEAN-China dialogue relations, he also mentioned that the Festival organizers attached great importance to ASEAN’s integration as a regional community as well as ASEAN-China relations, underscoring the thrusts of the ASEAN-China Summit held in November 2015.
Furthermore, Consul General Flores remarked that the biennial festival, already on its 5th edition, offers to the general public stellar attractions such as cultural performances, academic forum, food festivals in selected hotels, trade fair, and introduced new events such as movie screenings and business matchmaking workshop.
In concluding his message, Consul General Flores underscored that the Festival should continue to provide a valuable platform for enhancing the friendship, understanding and cooperation between ASEAN countries and China which is amply reflected in its theme “Common Heritage, Shared Future”.
Mayor Pei hosted a welcome reception for the VIP guests after the call. END
