The Embassy of Pakistan recently promoted the “King of Fruits” in The Hague, one of the most popular and best-loved fruits worldwide with hundreds of varieties cultivated for exportation in this country. The most popular commercial varieties of Pakistani mangoes – all different in colours and sizes, and each with a distinct flavour and taste – include Anwar Retol, Dasehri, Langra, Chaunsa, Sindhri, Saharni, Alphonso, Pairi, Fazli, and Neelam. The King of Fruits is grown in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan and available in abundance from May to September. The Netherlands is a very important trading partner for Pakistan being the fifth largest importer of Pakistani produce in EU and tenth largest importer overall for Pakistan. Besides mango, the Netherlands imports rice, oranges, cotton, wheat, textile, garments, leather and sport goods. The Netherlands is also among the top ten investors in Pakistan. The country has been home for major Dutch multinational companies like Shell, Unilever, Philips, Akzo Nobel, Macro, and Damn shipyards among others. Here follows a short video on the successful Pakistani Mango Exhibition at Hilton, The Hague, organised together with Diplomat Magazine. A Pakistani Rice Exhibition in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine will open soon.

On the picture Ms. Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.   18-21 August 2015, San José, Republic of Costa Rica: The Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) is an association of 36 countries from East Asia and Latin America. The meeting had the theme of “Two Regions, One Vision”, drew the participation of 35 out of 36 member countries, comprising 16 East Asian countries and 19 Latin American states. The “FMM 7” focused on discussing orientations, initiatives, and measures to cement the forum’s institutions and organisation as well as to improve the effective cooperation within the forum in the near future. The meeting adopted the San José Statement and reports of the forum’s 16th Senior Officials Meeting and working groups.Besides specific cooperation, the San José Statement emphasised that activities and cooperation within the Forum are implemented on the basis of international law and established international principles. Amongst the prominent participants were Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (who until January 2015 headed her country’s embassy in Den Haag). The Bruneian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, used the meeting for several bilateral tête-à-têtes with Latin American leaders such as the Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís.  

President Solís said: the region, covered by FEALAC, is important as it makes up a third of the world’s area, 40 percent of the world’s population, 33 percent of the volume of the world’s trade and 35 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, Solis said. China’s Special Representative for Latin American Issues Yin Hengmin voiced China’s support to practical cooperation among the 36 member countries of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC). The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hà Kim Ngọc who was accompanied by former Vietnamese ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, HE Phạm Sanh Châu. On the occasion, Ngọc also invited countries to send delegations to attend the seventh Hue Festival within the “East Asia – Latin America Cultural Exchange via Hue Festival” project. Ngọc also invited mayors and governors of cultural heritage cities from member countries of the FEALAC to attend the first meeting of the “Network of FEALAC cultural cities” project, which is initiated and hosted by Vietnam in Hue city at the end of April, 2016. On multilateral cooperation, all countries affirmed their intention to tighten cooperation with Vietnam at international organisations, especially at the United Nations and support Vietnam’s bids for a position in the United Nations Security Council in the 2020-2021 term, the UN Economic and Social Council for 2016-2018 and the executive board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for 2015-2019. Thailand and Costa Rica have been sharing the presidency of FEALAC since 2013. The FMM 8 will take place in the Republic of Korea in 2017. This was the first time the meeting was held in Central America.   For more information: FEALAC: www.fealac.org/about/EastAsia.jsp http://www.cepal.org/en/publications/3000-forum-east-asia-latin-america-cooperation-fealac-new-biregional-trade-and Ambassador Phạm Sanh Châu: https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BA%A1m_Sanh_Ch%C3%A2u        

On the picture President Tusk and HE Mr Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia. Picture by European Council.   Remarks by President Donald Tusk following his meeting with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. I am happy to be in Yerevan and once again meet the President of the Republic of Armenia. My visit here is a follow-up to our meeting in Brussels in March and the Eastern Partnership Summit in May in Riga. Firstly, I would like to thank you for the possibility of visiting the Genocide Memorial. This was my second visit, and was as moved as during my first visit. Today, we have had a good discussion on a wide range of issues; on EU-Armenia relations, the Eastern Partnership and wider regional issues. We discussed the situation regarding Nagorno-Karabakh. Recent negative trends are a cause for concern. The peaceful resolution of this conflict remains a priority for the European Union. The European Union supports the negotiations aimed at settling the conflict led by the OSCE Minsk Group. We support further dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including at the highest level – at your level Mr. President. It is critical to respect the ceasefire strictly, to exercise restraint on actions and statements, and to create an atmosphere conducive to progress in the conflict settlement. Armenia has chosen not to make use of the European Union’s offer of an Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. This is a choice that the European Union fully respects. We still stand ready to deepen our relations by working together to open markets and by advancing on democratic reforms, economic growth, regional integration, a better business-investment climate, and sustainable development. In short a broad reform agenda.

We have just successfully completed the first stage of discussions on a new, comprehensive bilateral agreement. In this agreement we have identified areas for future cooperation. The EU Member States are already discussing the mandate for these negotiations. One important area in our cooperation is to make it easier to travel between Armenia and the European Union. I welcome the good progress made by Armenia on the Mobility Partnership. The effective implementation of the Readmission and Visa Facilitation Agreements that entered into force in January 2014 is a crucial condition to start talks for a visa liberalisation dialogue. A visa-free regime is the final goal. I am hopeful that the next step can be taken in the coming months, if this pace of work continues. Armenia can count on the European Union’s continued support to advance on a whole range of political and social reforms, and to improve the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The European Union supports the work of civil society in Armenia and I encourage a closer involvement of the civil society in the reform process to broaden the perspective and ensure common ownership. This year is decisive for our relations. Thank you.

Armenia has one mission in Brussels handling the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg. The latter is headed by HE Ambassador Tatoul Markarian. Armenia’s mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands is headed by HE Ambassador Ms Dziunik Aghajanian. For more information Mission of Armenia to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg: www.belgium.mfa.am/en/ ————– Text and pictures by European Council

On the picture EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, Mr Nikola Poposki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FYROM and Ambassador Dr. Andrej Lepavcov, Permanent Representative of FYROM to the EU.     The Stabilisation and Association Council between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the EU (SA Council) held its twelfth meeting on 20 July 2015. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Nikola Poposki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. From the side of the European Union the meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, on behalf of High Representative Federica Mogherini. Commissioner Johannes Hahn represented the European Commission. Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Fatmir Besimi also participated. The SA Council welcomed the country’s continued active participation in regional cooperation, as well as its chairmanship of the Central European Initiative. The SA Council also noted the migratory pressures the country and the region is facing, efforts which have been made to date and the planned high level conference to be held in the coming months, as outlined in the European Council Conclusions of 25-26 June 2015. Regarding economic developments, the SA Council noted that the country’s economy displayed buoyant growth last year, overall macro-financial stability was maintained and the inflation environment stayed benign. It welcomed the Economic Reform Programme (ERP) covering the period 2015-2017 and encouraged the government to implement follow up actions based on the country-specific recommendations from the Economic and Financial Dialogue held in May 2015. It noted and encouraged ongoing work on public finance management. The SA Council welcomed progress on programming future EU assistance and efforts to address shortcomings in absorption of EU funds and to improve the capacity of institutions involved in their implementation. The mission of Macedonia to the EU is headed by HE Ambassador Dr. Andrej Lepavcov.               For more information   Mission of Macedonia to the EU: www.facebook.com/Macedonia.to.EU?fref=ts   ———————