Asian, European editors meet to bridge gap

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.