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Third Asia-Europe Meeting Ready to Kick off in Seoul
Delegations, organizers and media persons from South Korea and other countries have all geared up for kicking off the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Friday.
About 850 participants, including 22 heads of state or government from 10 Asian countries and 15 European Union member states, and President of the European Union Romano Prodi, will attend the two-day meeting at the Convention and Exhibition (COEX) Center.
Due to domestic engagements, leaders of the Philippines, Vietnam, Belgium and Greece have canceled their trip to Seoul, according to officials from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who was accused of pocketing more than 400 million pesos (8.5 million U.S. dollars) in bribes from operators of illegal lottery, will be represented at the meeting by his Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon.
The Vietnamese delegation is in the meanwhile led by Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam while Belgian Vice Prime Minister Louis Michel and Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Elissavet Papazoi are attending the meeting in place of Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Greek Premier Constantinos Simitis respectively.
The leaders or their representatives will discuss a wide range of topics including illegal immigration, the drug problem, organized crime, money laundering, security matters, the WTO-related issues, environment, information and globalization, crisis prevention, energy supply, science and technology, the digital divide.
A meeting attended by senior officials was held Thursday morning to give a final touch to the three major documents to be adopted at the end of the biennial event Saturday.
European Union and Asian ministers are scheduled to meet separately in the afternoon to coordinate their positions concerning the documents -- the Chairman's Statement, the Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework 2000 and the Seoul Declaration on Peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Over the past two days, senior officials from the 26 ASEM members have been working hard in their bid to finalize the documents by removing differences over the wording of or clauses in the drafts.
While the officials and ministers were busy with their final preparations, the leaders are carrying out their bilateral meetings, all together 72 both before and after the ASEM meeting.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who has been on an official visit to South Korea over the past three days, is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar Thursday afternoon.
China will propose three initiatives at the ASEM meeting on the transnational crime, corruption, environmental protection and sustainable forest development, which have been well received by other ASEM members, Chinese delegation sources said.
An extremely heavy security has been clamped upon the meeting venue to prevent possible disruptions threatened by supporters of anti-globalization and non-governmental organizations from South Korea and other countries.
South Korean riot police have formed a "human chain" surrounding the Convention and Exhibition Center and set up three police guard lines on each of the roads leading to the venue.
Every person who wants to enter the venue must show their official identification cards to the police and pass through a mental detector checking.
More than 2,100 reporters from across the world have signed up for the event being held at the dawn of the new century.
The inaugural ASEM was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1996 and the second in London, Britain, in 1998. The fourth meeting will be convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2002.
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