Monday, November 20, 2017

The past, the present and the future of ASEM



(Continued from 19-11-2017)
November 19, 2017
ASEM was founded on 1 March 1996. The body was formed at the ASEAN-EU Summit which was also participated by the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The venue of the Summit was Bangkok, Thailand.

As I have mentioned earlier, the ASEM has three pillars. They are the political pillar, economic pillar and the cultural, social and educational pillar. Their aim is to establish firm relations between Asia and Europe to harmoniously shape the global economic and political sectors. The summit of the heads of state/government and the meeting of the foreign affairs ministers are held once every two years. But the meeting of the foreign affairs ministers is held in the years in which no summit is held. If the summit is held this year, a foreign affairs ministers meeting is held next year. Apart from said meetings, the meetings at different levels of officials in connection with the ASEM pillars are also held. ASEM has 51 member states including Myanmar. ASEAN Secretariat and EU are also the ASEM’s institutional members. So we can say that ASEM has 53 members. As I have mentioned earlier the first ASEM Summit was held in Bangkok. Thailand on 1 and 2 March 1996. London of Britain hosted the second ASEM Summit on 3-4 April 1998: Seoul of the Republic Koreas held the third ASEM Summit on 20-12 October 2000; Copenhagen of Denmark the fourth summit on 22-24 September 2002; Hanoi of Vietnam the fifth summit on 8-9 October 2004; Helsinki of Norway the sixth summit on 10-11 September 2006; Beijing of China the seventh summit on 24-25 October 2008; Brussels of Belgian the eighth summit on 4-5 October 2010; Vientiane of Laos the ninth summit on 5-6 November 2012; Milan of Italy the tenth summit on 16-17 October 2014, and Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia the the 11th Summite on 15-16 July 2016 respectively. The first ASEM Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting was held in Singapore in 1997. Myanmar hosted the 13th meeting this year.

Apart from the ASEM Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting, there are also the ASEM Financial Ministers Meeting, the ASEM Culture Ministers Meeting, the ASEM Economic Ministers Meeting, the ASEM Education Ministers Meeting, the ASEM Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting, the ASEM Transport Ministers Meeting and the ASEM Environment Ministers Meeting. In the year 2017, the ASEM Education Ministers Meeting was held in Seoul of the Republic Korea on 9-10 May, the ASEM Economic Ministers Meeting was also held in Seoul of the Republic Koreas on 21-22 September, the ASEM Transport Ministers Meeting in Bali of Indonesia on 26-28 September.

Now we are going to see how ASEM works. The ASEM Summit and the ASEM Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting are the main venues where political dialogue between Asia and Europe is held. Senior Officials Meeting-SOM of the ministries of foreign affairs of ASEM member states can be said the bureaucracy machinery where all the functions of ASEM are coordinated. There are also the Asia Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting-ASEP, the Asia Europe Business Forum-AEBF, and the Asia Europe People’s Forum-AEPF which are the joint participants of the political dialogue between the two continents. Other remaining tasks of the ASEM are the meeting in connection with the ASEM pillars. The significance of the ASEM is that the Asia Europe Foundation-ASEF is a body that enhances mutual understanding and cooperation between Asia and Europe. The Singapore-based the Asia Europe Foundation-ASEF is a non-profit organization. The ASEF has connections with 125 organizations that are implementing about 30 projects annually in Asia and Europe through partnership. ASEM has no Secretariat. In fact, the ASEM foreign affairs ministers and their senior officials do the coordinating work of the continental body. Their functions are assisted by four coordinators. The coordinators are rendering assistance especially in the informal meetings. Of the four coordinators, two represent Asia and the other two represent Europe.

Engagement is the core of ASEM functions. And the energumens are based on flexibility, transparency, and freedom. Most of them are through informal meetings. In concluding my article, I would like to present an excerpt of the book “The Future of ASEM and its Vision for the 21st Century” written by Foreign Affairs Minister of Greece Kikos Kotzias on 11 July 2016, which said, I would like to stress that in order for ASEM to be able to provide added value, it has to maintain its informal character, strengthen its coordination mechanisms, increase civil society input, improve the quality of its profile and finally, prepare an Action Plan which would outline the key issues for dialogue and joint initiatives in the years ahead.”

Translation Tin Maung Than
Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar

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