Asia–Europe Meeting
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was officially established in 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok. ASEM is an interregional forum which consists of the European Commission and the twenty-five members of the European Union (EU) and of thirteen Asian countries (Brunei, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).
The main components of the ASEM process, which has so far been loosely organized, include:-
- political dialogue
- security and the economy
- education and culture
or the so-called three pillars.
In general, the process is considered by the parties involved to be a way of deepening the relations between Asia and Europe at all levels, which is deemed necessary to achieve a more balanced political and economic world order. The process is enhanced by the biannual meetings of heads of state, alternately in Europe and Asia, and political, economic, and cultural meetings and events at all kinds of other levels.
in February 1997, ASEM member countries established Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), which is based in Singapore and mandated to promote better mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe through greater intellectual, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges. The Foundation is funded by contributions from the member governments, but the cost of many of its projects are shared by other institutions as well as private corporations of ASEM countries. One way ASEF carries out its mandate is by creating its own projects. Some of these initiatives include Asia-Europe Lecture, Asia-Europe Young Artists' Painting Competition and Exhibition, Informal Human Rights Seminar, Asia-Europe Youth Co-operation Network, and ASEF Editors' Roundtable.
The meetings have been held in:
- 1996 ASEM 1, Bangkok, Thailand
- 1998 ASEM 2, London, United Kingdom
- 2000 ASEM 3, Seoul, South-Korea
- 2002 ASEM 4, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2004 ASEM 5, Hanoi, Vietnam
ASEM 6 will take place in Helsinki, Finland between 10th and 11th of October 2006.