The Birth of ASEM
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an inter-governmental forum between Asia and Europe. In July 1994, the European Commission published a document entitled Towards a New Strategy for Asia, calling for more comprehensive dialogue with Asia and the establishment of a constructive, stable and equal partnership. In November 1994, the idea of Asia-Europe Meeting was initiated by Mr. Goh Chok Tong, Prime Minister of Singapore, and was warmly welcomed by relevant parties. In March 1996, the First ASEM Summit was held in Bangkok, Thailand, marking the official birth of ASEM.
Purpose
The purpose of ASEM is to promote understanding and enhance cooperation through dialogue, create conditions conductive for economic and social development to promote the establishment of a new and comprehensive Asia-Europe partnership.
Membership
Initially consisting of 7 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, Korea, 15 EU member states and the European Commission, ASEM saw its first round of enlargement at its Fifth Summit in 2004, where both new ASEAN and EU member states became part of the process. The subsequent round of enlargement brought in 6 new members, increasing the grouping into a total of 45 partners:
Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vietnam, the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission.
Guiding Principles for the ASEM Process
ASEM leaders agreed that the ASEM process should follow the principles of mutual respect, equality, promotion of fundamental rights, in accordance with the rules of international law and obligations, non-intervention in each other's internal affairs; ASEM process needs to be open and evolutionary; follow-up actions should be taken on the basis of consensus; enlargement should be conducted on the basis of consensus by the leaders of ASEM members.
Areas of activities
ASEM activities can be grouped into three main "pillars" : political, economic, and social/cultural and others.
Structure
Summit is the highest level event of ASEM. It is held every second year in Asia and Europe alternatively. The Summits decide on the guiding principles and orientation of ASEM.
ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meetings and Senior Officals' Meetings are responsible for policy planning, overall coordination of the ASEM process and preparing for Summits. Sectoral ministerial meetings including Finance Ministers' Meeting, Economic Ministers' Meeting, Environment Ministers' Meeting, Culture Ministers' Meeting, Prosecutors-Generals' Conferences, Customs DG-Commissioner Meetings, Science and Technology Ministers' Meeting, are also held, some on a regular basis. Ministerial meetings implement leaders' decisions, promote cooperation and draw up action plans in respective areas.
In the ASEM process, four coordinators, two from Asia and two from Europe, coordinate positions of members from the two groups they represent.
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is the only permanent physical institution of ASEM with the mission to promote greater mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The ASEF is headquartered in Singapore.
Source:www.asem7.cn
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