The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation bringing together the 53 partners (28 members of the European Union and two other European countries, Norway and Switzerland, 21 Asian countries, the EU and the ASEAN Secretariat). The ASEM dialogue addresses political, economic and cultural issues, with the objective of strengthening the relationship between our two regions, in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.
The initial ASEM partnership in 1996 consisted of 15 EU member states and 7 ASEAN member states plus China, Japan, Korea and the European Commission.
The ASEM Summit is a biennial meeting between the Heads of State and Government, the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, and the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
As an informal process of dialogue and cooperation, based on equal partnership and enhancing mutual understanding, ASEM can best work to facilitate and stimulate progress in other fora, and should not seek to duplicate what is being done within bilateral and other multilateral relationships between Asia and Europe.
Key characteristics of the ASEM process include:
- Informality: It provides an open forum for policymakers and officials to discuss any political, economic and socio-cultural issues of common interest. In this way, it complements rather than duplicates the work already being carried out in bilateral and other multilateral fora;
- Multi-dimensionality: It covers the full spectrum of relations between the two regions and devotes equal weight to political, economic and socio-cultural dimensions;
- Emphasis on equal partnership: It eschews any “aid-based” relationship taken forward under our bilateral relations in favor of a more general process of dialogue and co-operation based on mutual respect and mutual benefit;
- The dual focus on high-level and people-to-people: It provides a platform for meeting of heads of states or governments, ministers and senior officials, and with an increasing focus on fostering contacts between societies in all sectors in the two regions.
