The Minister emphasised the region’s importance for Spain and their commitment to matters of common interest
The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Alfonso Dastis had lunch with the ambassadors from the Asia-Pacific region accredited in Madrid. The event was attended by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Australia in Spain, Timothy Kane, as well as by Alonso Dezcallar, SACF’s Secretary General.
In his speech, Alfonso Dastis emphasised Spain’s stable, ambitious policy in relation to the Asia-Pacific region, both regarding bilateral relations and multi-lateral forums, and announced the upcoming release of “Spain’s strategic vision for Asia-Pacific 2017-2021.”
The Minister for Foreign Affairs also advocated for a shared vision of the globalisation process and the mutual opening of our markets on an equal footing, as opposed to protectionism. Regarding Australia and New Zealand, the Minister mentioned the progress made in the negotiations of trade agreements with the European Union and highlighted Spain and Australia’s commitment to the fight against climate change, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the fight against international terrorism. “We will continue to work with all our partners in Asia-Pacific to make significant progress in those fields in the coming years,” he said.
Alfonso Dastis also stressed the need to strengthen connections between Asia and Europe and, more particularly, Spain, not only through transport, telecommunications and energy grids, but also through tourism, culture and migratory movements. To this end, he emphasised the conditions offered by Spain “to companies from Asia-Pacific that decide to base their operations in Spain.”
