Journalists  are invited to attend a  Seminar on Interregional Cooperation in Trade and Investment: Asia-Latin America, 15-16 February 2000

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)—The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is organizing an important seminar on cooperation in trade and investment  between the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America on 15-16 February 2000  in Bangkok.

The seminar will begin at 9 am on Tuesday, 15 February in the United Nations Conference Centre  in the presence of the Executive Secretaries of ESCAP and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).  The keynote address will be delivered by HE M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra,  Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Thai Government.

The objective of the Seminar is to look for ways of boosting economic cooperation between two dynamic regions of the world, especially in the context of south-south cooperation. Trade and investment barriers are falling all over the world and although economic relations across the Pacific have been growing, they constitute a relatively small proportion of the economic ties each region has with other parts of the world. Widespread liberalization in many countries of Latin America offers good market access opportunities for foreign suppliers of goods and services from the Asia Pacific region. Foreign direct investment from Asia to Latin America is also at present below the FDI flows from Asia to some of the world’s other regions and is also  less than the intraregional  FDI flows within the Asia-Pacific. Similarly, countries of Latin America are also keen to expand and diversify their trade and investment portfolios in this region.

The main objective of the seminar is to create an appropriate institutional mechanism that will lead to a sustained two-way flow of information on trade and investment opportunities among investors and firms in both regions.

The seminar will be participated by representatives from the governments, private sectors and the academia of Latin American countries and the Asian and Pacific countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.  In addition, representatives from France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America will also participate in the seminar.  The delegation from Argentina is being led by their Foreign Minister, HE Mr Ileana di Giovan.

The seminar will have a number of presentations made by a panel of distinguished experts drawn from international organizations like the WTO, leading academic institutions like Columbia University, New York and the University of Tsukuba, Japan as well as from Chambers of Commerce in both Asia and Latin America.
 

YOU OR YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND THE OPENING SESSION OF THE SEMINAR ON TUESDAY, 15 February 2000 at 9:00 am in Conference Room 4,  Level 1 of the United Nations Conference Centre  and subsequent sessions.
 

                                                                              UNIS