The 9th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is hosted by Vietnam on May 25th to 26th. Ministers will meet in Hanoi to build on discussions on the successful 7th ASEM Summit in Beijing last year and  look into enhancing Asia-Europe cooperation in addressing the global economic slowdown, taking forward the elements of the Beijing Declaration on Sustainable Development and working on preparations for the 8th ASEM Summit in October 2010 in Brussels. Topics will include global challenges like climate change but also the further development of the ASEM process into a fully fledged partnership.

As another follow-up to the Beijing ASEM Summit and in preparation of the ASEM 8 Summit in Brussels, the European Commission will sponsor a high level ASEM Development Conference in 2010 in Europe to address future development policy for Asia in the context of evolving global economic and regulatory challenges.

Further issues on the agenda of ASEM Foreign Ministers in Hanoi will be the social implications of the current world economic outlook, the Millenium Development Goals, as well as pandemic diseases, trans-national crime, counter-terrorism, international and regional developments, nuclear disarmament, maritime safety and security, Burma/Myanmar, the Korean Peninsula and the dialogue of cultures and civilisations.

Several Troika meetings will take place in the margins of the ASEM ministerial, among them an EU-Burma/Myanmar Troika.

Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner underlined the sucess of the 7th ASEM Summit in Beijing last October, which saw Asia and Europe united to tackle the global economic crisis. It also laid down a marker for the following G20 meeting in Washington which enhanced the developing countries’ involvement and role in global governance. “In Hanoi”, Commissioner said, “we will not only continue the debate on this issue but also look into how we can work together for an ambitious and comprehensive agreement on climate change in Copenhagen later this year. I am also expecting to continue the fruitful discussions of the Summit in Beijing on other issues, especially our policies to address the economic crisis, human rights, development, social cohesion, and energy security."

On the ASEM process itself, the Commissioner added: "The European Commission stands ready to play its part as a Coordinator and to contribute to the further deepening of the ASEM process towards a fully fledged partnership. We are prepared to support the establishment of an “ASEM 8 Coordinating Office” for the 8th ASEM Summit next year in Brussels. Furthermore, we will continue our support for the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) which facilitates and funds civil society and people-to-people Asia-Europe dialogue, and we will replenish our ASEM Dialogue Facility funding which has funded many ASEM initiatives, such as the April 2009 ASEM Development Conference in Manila and the forthcoming First ASEM Ministerial on Energy Security in Brussels on 18th June 2009."

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is the main multilateral channel for communication and dialogue between Asia and Europe since 1996. As one of the four “coordinators” of ASEM, the European Commission underpins the process. ASEM involves virtually the whole of Asia and Europe. The 45 ASEM partners represent half of the world’s GDP, almost 60% of the world’s population and 60% of global trade.

Members of ASEM are the European Commission, 27 European Union Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN member states, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Pakistan and Mongolia.

India, Cambodia, the EU Presidency and the European Commission are the four ASEM Coordinators. ASEM Summits are biennial events, and these meetings of ASEM Foreign Ministers occur in the intervening years to ensure the momentum of ASEM. Every year over fifty other ASEM meetings concern widespread sectors such as transport, immigration, trade, financial regulation, economic policy, education, energy, environment, development policies, culture and civilizations, counter-terrorism, demining, other security issues, labour and employment, information technology, and many other issues - as well as political dialogue.