On 9 November 2013, the ASEAN Embassies in Mexico, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, organised the annual ASEAN charity bazaar at the Teatro Angela Peralta in Polanco, Mexico City.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Pablo Lozano, Joint Director-General, Department of the Asia Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Ambassadors Sergio Ley of COMCE, the ASEAN Ambassadors in Mexico, namely Mr. Hamdani Djafar, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, Dato’ Jamaiyah Yusof, Ambassador of Malaysia, Mr. Chirachai Punkrasin, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, Mr. Tung Le Thanh, Ambassador of Viet Nam, and Mr. Angelo Amonoy, Charge DÁffairs of the Phillipines.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Chirachai Punkrasin, in his capacity as the Chairman of the newly established ASEAN Committee in Mexico City, urged the Mexican public to look to ASEAN as potential partner who looks forward to closer political economic and social ties with Mexico. He pointed out that ASEAN is a successful model of regional cooperation that has played an important role in transforming this rich and diverse region into a politically stable and economically vibrant grouping, which will become the ASEAN Community of 600 million people in next two years. As such, the ASEAN Committee in Mexico City, now officially established in Mexico, will work more closely with the Mexican government as well as Mexican people toward mutually beneficial goals.

The annual ASEAN Charity Bazaar is a major event in the ASEAN Embassies calendar to which the grouping reaches out toward their Mexican friends to promote better understanding of ASEAN through various cultural performances by local communities. It also serves to raise funds for charitable causes in Mexico with the sales of traditional foods, arts and crafts, and raffle tickets.