European finance ministers to skip ASEM meeting

European finance ministers to skip ASEM meeting

Agence France-Presse, Nusa Dua, Bali

An international grouping which strives for a balanced
relationship between Europe and Asia will have a distinctly
unbalanced look at a meeting starting here Saturday.

While most of the 10 Asian member states will send full
ministers to the fifth ASEM finance ministers' meeting, only
Austria among the 15 European Union states will send a minister,
organizers said.

Deputy ministers or senior officials will fill in for the
missing European ministers.

"This is unfortunate," said a European Union (EU) diplomat,
speaking of the low-level representation from his side.

"The Asian side has complained in the past that Europeans have
not always been represented at an adequate level."

He said the Bali meeting coincides with a meeting called by
the finance ministry of Italy, which has just assumed the EU
presidency.

The diplomat said the important test for ASEM (the Asia Europe
Meeting) would be a get-together of its foreign ministers in Bali
on July 23-24. "If the participation of Europe is not what we
expect, there could be some complaints."

The ASEM process began in 1996.

Its origins, according to the ASEM webpage, "lay in a mutual
recognition ... that the relations between our two regions needed
to be strengthened, to reflect the increased importance of Asia
on the world stage, and to move away from an 'aid and trade'
relationship towards a more balanced relationship based on equal
partnership."

Summits are held every two years and finance, economic and
foreign ministers normally meet annually.

The agenda for this weekend's meeting covers topics such as
prospects for the Asian, European and world economy, prospects
for financial cooperation between the two regions and combating
the financing of terrorism and money-laundering.

Senior officials from the European Commission, the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian
Development Bank and the European Central Bank will join the
closed-door talks.

Indonesia has put forward a "Bali initiative" under which the
European and Asian parties would cooperate in training finance
ministry and central bank staff.

"There are still problems in Asia's recovery after the (1997-
98) crisis but most countries are doing relatively well," the EU
diplomat noted.

"Growth in Europe, however, is not very high and there is some
risk of deflation in Europe."

He said the need for Asian nations to undertake structural
financial sector reforms to achieve sustainable growth would also
figure in the talks.

ASEM's Asian membership is made up of Brunei, China,
Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 15 European Union members
plus the European Commission make up the other side.