Third Asia-Europe Meeting Starts in Seoul

The Third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) opened Friday morning in Seoul with leaders and representatives from 26 ASEM states.

As the host of the two-day meeting, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, which started at 9:30 a.m. Seoul time (0030 GMT), at the Convention and Exhibition Center.

Four leaders of ASEM states from the Philippines, Vietnam, Belgium and Greece did not attend the biennial event due to domestic engagements.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada was represented by Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon, and the Vietnamese delegation was led by Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam. Belgian Vice Prime Minister Louis Michel and Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Elissavet Papazoi attended the meeting respectively, representing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Greek Premier Constantinos Simitis.

At three closed-door sessions, the 22 leaders and four representatives are expected to review ASEM achievements and progress made since the second ASEM meeting in London in 1998.

They will charter a course for the process which involves 10 Asian countries, 15 European Union member states and the European Union.

They will discuss a wide range of topics, such as illegal immigration, drugs, organized crime, money laundering, security matters, environment, information and globalization, crisis prevention, energy supply, science and technology, and the digital divide.

Three key documents - the Chairman's Statement, the Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework 2000 and the Seoul Declaration on Peace on the Korean Peninsula - will be adopted during the course of the meeting.

The Chairman's Statement will summarize the results of the Seoul meeting, and the Framework 2000 will provide a road map for Asian-European cooperation in the first decade of the 21st century.

The document on peace on the Korean Peninsula, which will be adopted at the opening session, is meant to declare the support of ASEM members to the improvement of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is scheduled to make a speech entitled "Towards a New Century-Oriented Asia-Europe Partnership,"that will stress strengthened cooperation between the two continents in trade, economy, and science and technology.

The Chinese delegation will table three initiatives at the third ASEM meeting on trans-national crime, corruption, and environmental protection and sustainable forest development, which Chinese delegation sources said have been received well by other ASEM members.

The 10 Asian countries attending the ASEM are Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and the 15 European countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain.



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