Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo received the envoys from the South Asia and the Pacific regions yesterday afternoon. The ambassadors from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka jointly paid a courtesy call on Secretary Romulo and earnestly gave their support to his leadership as Foreign Affairs Secretary. Secretary Romulo thanked the four envoys from South Asia and expressed his intention to intensify Philippine engagement in terms of trade and cultural as well as technological exchange with the countries in the region.

Ambassador Navrekha Sharma of India, Ambassador Mohammed Munir-uz-Zaman of Bangladesh, Ambassador Iftikhar Hussain Kazmi of Pakistan and Ambassador Ariya Bandara Rekawa of Sri Lanka reciprocated the Foreign Affairs Secretary’s vision for closer interaction between the Philippines and their respective countries. Secretary Romulo also mentioned his admiration for the relatively peaceful conduct of elections in India. To the envoy from Bangladesh, Secretary Romulo expressed his appreciation of Foreign Minister Khan as a “friend of the Filipino people”. The Bangladeshi Foreign Minister visited the country earlier this year and is actually a personal friend of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Secretary Romulo also expressed his admiration for the natural beauty of these four South Asian countries, notably Sri Lanka. The Secretary also pointed out the significant contribution of Pakistan to the global campaign versus terrorism as well as the country’s support to the Arroyo administration’s efforts in instilling peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao.

The Ambassadors from Australia, New Zealand, Palau and Papua New Guinea also paid their joint courtesy call on the Foreign Affairs Secretary. Australian Ambassador Ruth Pearce expressed her desire that the Foreign Affairs Secretary would be able to attend the regional defense meeting that will be held at the hometown of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. He congratulated Ambassador Anita Rechirei-Suta of Palau, on the occasion of the country’s decade long independence.. Ambassador Robert Carey Moore-Jones of New Zealand suggested to the Foreign Affairs Secretary that he could opt to visit Wellington en route to the APEC Summit in Chile or on his return back to Manila. Secretary Romulo also pointed out to Ambassador Damien Dominic Gamiandu of Papua New Guinea of PNG’s strategic contribution to the campaign of the Allies during World War II. Ambassador Gamiandu for his part expressed his desire for expanded cooperation in harvesting and canning of tuna between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

The four Ambassadors jointly expressed their full support to Secretary Romulo’s leadership of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Pearce and Ambassador Moore-Jones pointed put their respective countries’ earnest intention to pursue a Free Trade Area agreement with the Philippines and how much they look forward to a fruitful result as dialogue partners of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The two envoys also expressed their commitment to the war against terror in the East Asia-Pacific region. They also cited their appreciation for the dynamic trade relations between the Philippines and their respective countries that are known to be the foremost exporters of dairy and meat products to the Philippines.

Secretary Romulo expressed his ardent desire to meet up with the Foreign Ministers of the eight envoys from South Asia and the Pacific during the United Nations General Assembly beginning 20 September 2004. He also concurred with the eight envoys on the vision of intensified regional political and economic cooperation.