ASEM begins amid concern over commitment to Asia's growth
ASEM begins amid concern over commitment to Asia's growth
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) kicks off on Monday in
Denpasar, Bali, amid growing concern in Asian countries about
their European counterparts' commitment to providing economic
support.
High on the agenda are several pressing regional issues like
the postwar situation in Iraq, the North Korea nuclear crisis and
counterterrorism alliances between the two continents.
All foreign ministers from 10 Asian countries -- Brunei
Darussalam, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- have confirmed
their participation in the four-day meeting, while from the
European side, only three of the 15 European Union (EU) members
plan to send their foreign ministers -- Italy, Belgium and
Ireland.
The low-level participation by European countries had raised
questions about their seriousness in boosting cooperation with
their Asian partners.
Ministry of foreign affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said
over the weekend that Indonesia had hoped that more ministers
from European countries would come to the four-day meeting.
"At this forum we would like to hear about developments in
Europe, and not just put us (Asian countries) under the
microscope," Marty said.
He said the ongoing cooperation between the two continents was
not only in the interests of Asia but of European countries, too.
The meeting is also being held as EU members discuss the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which worries most developing
countries, whose economic growth depends on the agriculture
sector.
With high-tech agricultural equipment in Europe, it is almost
impossible for developing countries like Indonesia to compete
with Europe's agriculture industry.
In the long term, the policy will directly affect the overall
economic growth of developing countries like Indonesia, where 70
percent of its citizens are farmers.
Security issues are also likely to dominate discussions during
the meeting.
EU Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten, who will
be attending the meeting in Bali, said he would discuss new ways
of improving ASEM cooperation in tackling security problems.
"Europe and Asia are not only major trading partners, but
partners too in the fight against terrorism, organized crime and
environmental degradation," Patten said in a release provided for
The Jakarta Post by EU representatives here.
"There are many areas in which we could collaborate more --
security, human rights, regional integration and new
technologies," he said.
The ASEM meeting is slated to seek common approaches to
address issues of terrorism, nonproliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and the situation in Myanmar and North Korea.
Commissioner Patten is also slated to present a paper titled A
New Partnership with Southeast Asia on regional security and
global economic governance.
Two separate documents are expected to be adopted -- the
chairman's statement and one on nonproliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.