SEOUL, 20 August 2015 – South Korea and ASEAN member-states are due to form, together with four other Asian countries, a new Seoul-based organization with 15 members and international status in August 2016, Executive Director Hadisusanto Pasaribu of the ASEAN-ROK Forest Cooperation Secretariat (AFoCo) said in a recent visit to the Embassy.

In a call on Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez on 20 August 2015, Executive Director Pasaribu expressed appreciation for the Philippines' active involvement in the negotiation process to establish the Asia Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), together with Mongolia, Bhutan, Kazakhstan and Timor Leste.

Ambassador Hernandez in turn conveyed the Philippines' continuing commitment towards intensifying forestry cooperation in the Asian region.

Since its inception, AFoCo has served as a regional cooperation mechanism for fostering forestry cooperation between ASEAN member-states and the Republic of Korea (ROK) following the signing of the Agreement between Member States of ASEAN and ROK on Forest Cooperation which entered into force on 5 August 2012.

Talks are on-going for the broadening of the scope of the AFoCo to include the four other Asian countries as envisioned by ROK which proposed the establishment of the Asia-wide organization, AFoCO, to supersede the more ASEAN-focused AFoCo.

At present, the ASEAN-ROK Forest Cooperation Secretariat based in Seoul is active in promoting regional cooperation in addressing the rehabilitation of degraded forests, advancing sustainable forest management and combatting desertification.

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