1. The 19th Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting will take place in Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, from November 20 to 21.

o The meeting will be hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Laos, the FEALAC Regional Coordinator for East Asia, and attended by delegates to the SOM from 35 member states, including the Republic of Korea (head delegate: Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Jo Yung-joon), the People's Republic of China, Japan, the United Mexican States, the Republic of Colombia, and the Dominican Republic (five vice foreign ministerial officials will be among them).

2. In the upcoming SOM, the member countries will review the progress in implementing the New FEALAC Action Plan, which came out of the 8th FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Busan in August 2017, as well as developments regarding the FEALAC Trust Fund, and discuss the way forward for FEALAC, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2019.

o In particular, in order to elevate cooperation at FEALAC to a higher level, the participants will focus their discussions on the possibility of holding a special summit, introducing a system where countries take turns in serving as regional coordinator, creating a pool of experts, and organizing expert group meetings.

3. In addition, in the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting of the FEALAC Trust Fund, which was launched in Seoul in January this year, the member states will review the progress in carrying out the Trust Fund’s projects, and engage in a broad exchange of views on new projects.

o The ROK and Mexico, as co-chairs of the Steering Committee, will preside over the meeting. The ROK side will pledge contributions to the Fund in order to secure funds at an earlier stage, operate the fund successfully, and facilitate continued development of the fund, and ask for the member countries’ interest and participation in the fund.

4. The forthcoming meeting is expected to help FEALAC, about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, take a leap forward by serving as an opportunity to make tangible progress in the New Action Plan and the Trust Fund, whose creation was led by the ROK side at the 8th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting last year.

o The meeting is also expected to become an opportunity to raise the FEALAC members’ awareness of the ROK’s leading roles and contributions.

* unofficial translation