FM Hassan to attend ASEM meeting

JAKARTA: Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda will attend an Asia-Europe foreign ministers meeting in Kyoto, Japan, from May 6 to May 7, a ministry official said on Thursday.

Spokesman Yuri Thamrin said the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) ministerial forum with the theme The Deepening Asia-Europe dialog on global challenges, will discuss issues covering politics, economics, and social and cultural affairs.

"The ministers of Asian and European countries will discuss much-awaited UN reform, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), terrorism, North Korea, the Middle East, and energy security issues," Yuri said.

The ministers are also expected to talk about the future of ASEM, including the enlargement of its membership as well as the need to establish a secretariat for the forum, he said.

Ministers of European Union nations are to hold talks with Myanmar on the sidelines of the meeting. --JP