Seoul Asia-Europe Meeting A SuccessThe three key documents adopted at the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which was concluded Saturday morning, will bear on the development, prosperity and stability of the two continents in the new century.The successful and fruitful gathering of political leaders from Asia and Europe reflected the importance of enhanced cooperation between Asia and Europe, given the size of their combined landmass, population, and economic and trade weight. During the two-day meeting, political issues were dealt with at the first panel meeting, and economic and financial matters were discussed at the second panel meeting on Friday. The third panel meeting focused on social and cultural matters. After extensive discussions, the leaders from 26 Asian and European members reached consensus on issues such as regional and global security, the new international order, multilateral trade, globalization and its effects, the digital divide, women and children's welfare, environmental protection, transnational crime, drug problems, money laundering, international finance, and education. The meeting was highlighted by a statement delivered by the Chairman that summarized the principles and objectives of ASEM, and the adoption of the Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF) 2000. The first charter ASEM leaders have worked out to guide the forum in the coming decade, the AECF, spells out the ASEM vision, including commitments to observe the U.N. Charter, equality, justice and the rule of law and to address concerns about the environment, poverty, education, cultural heritage, science and technology, commerce, investment and business. Meeting participants suggested extending the operations of the ASEM Trust Fund, which was established at the second ASEM meeting in 1998 in London to help Asia recover from the 1997-98 economic crisis and will expire next year. To resolve the digital divide, the meeting adopted the Trans Eurasia Information Network, which was proposed by South Korea, to facilitate exchange of information between researchers in Asia and Europe. The leaders also agreed to set up an Asia-Europe fellowship to encourage exchange of students between the two continents. Altogether, 16 ambitious initiatives for future cooperation were agreed upon at the meeting, which concluded Saturday morning. The Seoul Declaration for Peace on the Korean Peninsula adopted Friday was the first ASEM document dealing with a regional issue. It brought all ASEM partners together in support of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and consequently in Northeast Asia. The Seoul ASEM coincided with an unexpectedly quickened pace of improvement in relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and England, Germany and the Netherlands, which indicated that they will seek diplomatic normalization with the DPRK. |
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