Leonel Fernández Heads Young Diplomats Meeting in Panama Organized by EU-LAC Foundation

The former president of the Dominican Republic and president of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD/Funglode), Dr. Leonel Fernández, led the First Young Diplomats of Central America and the European Union Program, which was organized by the EU-LAC Foundation. Representatives from nearly twenty countries in the Americas and Europe participated in the event.

“Facilitating a joint look at shared challenges” was the
theme of the meeting, which had the objective of fostering a platform for collaborative work, debate and reflection among young civil servants. The meeting also intended to promote confidence and mutual understanding for bi-regional relations.

Based on the training framework for young diplomats, the meeting dealt with bi-regional issues and the strategic association of cooperation in economic, social, cultural and other areas that govern the new era of diplomacy. A focus
of the meeting was to keep in mind the future of regional and cross-regional issues.

The subjects covered, all relevant to the members of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the European Union (both present in the program), were led and coordinated by a team of more than 10 exhibitors. The discussions encouraged an intellectual exchange between young people who will become the diplomatic leaders of the future.

The activity took place in
the facilities of the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry and featured the participation of young diplomats from the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Haiti, Portugal, Italy Lithuania, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, France, Bulgaria and Finland.

Over the course of his 24-hour stay in Panama, Fernández also held separate work meetings with the president of the country, Juan Carlos
Varela and the vice-president, Isabel Saint Malo, with whom he spoke about topics discussed at the event as well as others on the global agenda.