Asian, European editors meet to bridge gap

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Asia and Europe have much in common but a lack of in-depth discourse has left a wide gap between the two continents. An Asian and European seminar this week, bringing together leading newspaper editors from the two continents, is an effort to bridge the gap.

The two-day seminar, which opens on Monday in Jakarta, is the sixth Asian-European Editors Forum (AEEF) organized by the Singapore-based Konrad-Adenauer Foundation in cooperation with The Jakarta Post.

Werner vom Busch, Singapore-based regional representative of the foundation says the purpose of the seminar is twofold. One goal is to give the participants an insight into Indonesia and the Southeast Asian economy and how the economies of each member country are intertwined with one another.

"The seminar also wants to focus on civic societies in countries with a predominantly Muslim population," Werner told The Jakarta Post.

The second goal is to improve communications between Asia and Europe, he said.

"The event will give editors from both continents a platform for discussion, get together and networking," he said.

The editors are scheduled to meet with a number of top officials, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, State Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati and the head of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Executive Agency Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.

The speakers in the seminar will include Jusuf Wanandi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies; Bachtiar Effendy of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Zainah Anwar, Executive Director of Sisters in Islam, Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group and Stephen A. Schwartz, executive director of the U.S.-based Center for Islamic Pluralism.

The Asian editors at the seminar are among members of the Asia News Network, an association of 13 leading newspapers in Asia. Those attending are from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand.

The European editors are from Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The seminar is held annually with a rotating venue from an Asian country in one year and an European country in the next.