What is ASEM?

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an intergovernmental process established in 1996 to foster dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe. Presently it comprises 53 Partners: 30 European and 21 Asian countries, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. ASEM addresses political, economic, social, cultural, and educational issues of common interest, in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.

ASEM is an intergovernmental process which stands for 'Asia-Europe Meeting'. This is a large international conference attended by the 51 ASEM member countries together with the EU, and the ASEAN Secretariat. During Asia-Europe Meeting, political, economic, social, cultural, and educational issues of common interest are discussed extensively.

Background

• After the collapse of the order of Cold War in 1990s, the international order rapidly reorganized among three regions: Asia, North America, and Europe.
• Europe and North America have established close ties in various fields such as politics, economy, culture, and society, and the relationship between Asia and North America is also maintained through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) established in 1989.
• On the other hand, the relationship between Asia and Europe has been weak enough to be called a “missing link,” and the need to strengthen the relationship between Asia and Europe has emerged constantly.
• In October 1994, Singapore proposed to create an ASEM, and the three countries, ASEAN and EU agreed to hold the Asia-Europe Summit.

Features

• 1A place where participants can freely discuss politics, economy, society, culture and etc. as informal partners.
• 2Rather than focusing on a specific field, ASEM equally discusses and cooperates in three areas of politics, economy, and socio-culture, and extensively cover all issues of Asia-Europe.
• 3Putting emphasis on partnerships between countries and continent based on partnership, mutual respect and mutual benefits.
• 4ASEM is a consultative body that emphasizes communications between Europe and Asia through exchanges between various social classes such as people-to-people, society-to-society, as well as cooperation among governments.

Partner Countries

• ASEAN Secretariat
• EU Commission
• Australia
• Austria
• Bangladesh
• Belgium
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Cambodia
• China
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Korea
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• England
• Vietnam

Relevant ministries in ASEM Partners