asem description page 2

ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) is a process of greater contact between Europe and Asia which has been taking place since 1996. The European participants are the 15 member states of the European Union (EU) (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and the European Commission. The participants from Asia are Brunei, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEM was initiated in April 1996 with a Summit of Heads of State and Government in Bangkok. A Summit meeting is held every two years to address political and economic issues of interest to both regions. ASEM II was held in London in April 1998 and ASEM III will take place in Seoul in October 2000. Meetings of Foreign Ministers are held in intervening years:  their primary function being to direct the process and prepare the next Summit. The most recent Foreign Ministers meeting was held in Berlin in March 1999. There have also been meetings of Ministers, covering areas such as Economic Affairs and Science and Technology.

A variety of initiatives and projects have arisen from the ASEM process including:

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) was officially launched at the first meeting of ASEM Foreign Ministers in Singapore, in February 1997. The aim of the Foundation is to promote better cultural understanding between Asia and Europe through greater intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

An Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF) to guide, focus and co-ordinate ASEM activities was adopted at ASEM II. It delegates the primary coordination role in ASEM to Foreign Ministers and senior officials.

The Asia-Europe Vision Group was also launched at ASEM II. The group was comprised of representatives from each ASEM member country. It examined the prospects for Asia-Europe partnership in the 21^st century. The Vision Group completed its report in 1999. The report will be formally submitted to the ASEM III summit in Seoul in October 2000.

The ASEM Business Forum (AEBF) was established for the purpose of fostering greater cooperation between the business and private sectors of the two regions. The first AEBF was held in France in 1996, while the fourth  and most recent was held in Korea in 1999. Preparations are currently underway for AEBF V, which will be held in Vienna this year. A once-off Business Conference was also held in Indonesia in July, 1997.

ASEM II also adopted the Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP), which aims to reduce non-tariff barriers and promote trade opportunities between the EU and Asia. The progress of this project was discussed at the Second ASEM Economic Ministers Meeting in Berlin, in October 1999. Ministers emphasised the need for a more practical approach to the reduction of non-tariff barriers and the promotion of trade opportunities. The third Economic Ministers meeting will be held in Asia in 2001.

A meeting of ASEM Science and Technology Ministers, proposed by China at ASEM II, was held in Beijing in October 1999. Ministers identified a number of areas of potential cooperation, including environmental protection issues, agricultural science and technology issues, the upgrading of the technical and research capabilities of enterprises, knowledge transfer from universities to industry and joint utilisation of large-scale scientific facilities.