ASEAN, EU establish new forum

ASEAN, EU establish new forum

SINGAPORE (Reuters): About 500 businesses from Southeast Asia
and Europe are expected to schedule around 1,300 meetings over
two days during the first ASEAN-EU Partenariat gathering,
officials said yesterday.

The Partenariat program provides small- and medium-sized
businesses with help and information on joint ventures, markets
and investments to help smaller companies internationalize.

Launched in the European Union (EU) in 1988, the two-day
Singapore gathering to link with companies from the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the first time a Partneriat
meeting has been held outside the EU.

"The objective of holding the ASEAN-EU Partenariat is to
further stimulate the economic activities between Europe and Asia
by encouraging co-operation between European and Asian
companies," the European Commission said in a statement.

Formal co-operation agreements have been signed in about 30 to
40 percent of cases after meetings at previous European
Partenariats, the statement said.

The 15-nation EU is the world's largest trading entity.

ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is
the fourth largest trading bloc.