ASEM Summit 2006
ASEM Summits
The ASEM Summit takes place every two years alternately in Asia and Europe. In Europe, the summit is always organised by the country that holds the rotating EU Presidency. In Asia, the summit meeting is organised by one of the ASEAN countries or by China, Japan or Korea.
The ASEM Summit, that will take place during Finland’s Presidency of the EU, will be the 6th summit meeting. The Summit will be held in Helsinki on 10 and 11 September 2006. The 7th ASEM Summit will take place in Beijing, China, in 2008.
The locations of the previous summits:
- 2004 ASEM5, Hanoi, Vietnam
- 2002 ASEM4, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2000 ASEM3, Seoul, South Korea
- 1998 ASEM2, London, the United Kingdom
- 1996 ASEM1, Bangkok, Thailand
ASEM1, Bangkok 1996
The first ASEM Summit was held in Bangkok on 1 and 2 March 1996. The participants included representatives from the European Commission, the then EU Member States, the seven ASEAN countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea.
The need to strengthen relations between Asian and European countries served as an initiative for summit.
The theme of the first summit was “Towards a New Asia-Europe Partnership for Greater Growth”. The aim of the partnership was to strengthen ties between Asia and Europe and to promote peace, global stability and the regions’ prosperity.
The Bangkok summit agreed that the areas for cooperation would include political dialogue, economic cooperation and cooperation in other fields such as science and technology cross-flows, human resources development, development cooperation, the environment, and cultural and educational exchanges.
ASEM2, London 1998
The second ASEM Summit took place in London on 3 and 4 April 1998. The Summit built on the conclusions adopted at the previous summit and took forward cooperation on the identified major themes.
The Summit reinforced partnership among the participating leaders as they decided to take joint action to overcome the problems brought about by the economic and financial crisis in Asia.
The ASEM2 Summit adopted an Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF) to guide, focus and coordinate ASEM activities in the political dialogue, the economic and financial fields and other areas. It also commissioned an Asia-Europe vision group to develop a medium to long-term vision to help guide the ASEM process into the 21st century.
ASEM3, Seoul 2000
The third ASEM Summit took place in Seoul on 20 and 21 October 2000. The Heads of State or Government adopted an Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework 2000 (AECF 2000), drawn up on the basis of the AECF approved by the leaders at ASEM2 in London.
The AECF 2000 set out the vision, principles and objectives, priorities and mechanisms for the ASEM process for the first decade of the 21st century. The leaders also reaffirmed their opinion on the importance of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.
ASEM4, Copenhagen 2002
The fourth ASEM Summit took place in Copenhagen between 22 and 24 September 2002. The leaders discussed the importance of the Asian and European cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in recognising new security threats in the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001.
The second main theme at the Copenhagen Summit was “Dialogue on Cultures and Civilisations” and the importance of respecting the equal dignity of all civilisations and the conviction that cultural diversity is an asset.
ASEM5, Hanoi 2004
The fifth ASEM Summit took place in Hanoi on 8 and 9 October 2004. The ASEM5 Summit allowed for enlargement to 13 new countries. The new members in the ASEM process are the ten new EU Member States and three new ASEAN countries.
The main theme of the summit meeting was “Further Revitalising and substantiating the Asia-Europe partnership”. In addition, the leaders commissioned the Foreign Ministers to define priority areas for cooperation.