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ASEM summit adopts key documents on post-pandemic recovery, connectivity

(Xinhua) 11:24, November 27, 2021

Screen image captured in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 26, 2021 shows the closing session of the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit. The 13th virtual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit concluded on Friday under the chairmanship of Cambodia, adopting three outcome documents, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 13th virtual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit concluded on Friday under the chairmanship of Cambodia, adopting three outcome documents, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said.

The three adopted documents included ASEM13 Chair's Statement, Phnom Penh Statement on the Post-COVID-19 Socio-Economic Recovery, and The Way Forward on ASEM Connectivity, he said in the closing speech of the two-day summit.

"I'm firmly confident that these outcome documents will significantly contribute towards building a safer and more prosperous world," Hun Sen said.

"I also believe that Asia-Europe partnership and cooperation will make a significant contribution to the sustainability and promotion of multilateralism, which is the driving force for peace and prosperity for the peoples in Asia-Europe and the world in the decades to come," he added.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Europe and Asia must continue working together to fight COVID-19 and boost the post-pandemic recovery.

"Now, global solidarity is vital to ending the pandemic," she said in her closing remarks. "Openness, multilateralism and rules-based trading system will be crucial to a lasting economic recovery."

She said Asia's success would be Europe's success and vice versa, and the Phnom Penh statement on the post-COVID-19 socio-economic recovery outlined both regions' joint priorities to recover from the pandemic together.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said Europe and Asia must continue working together and take actions together to address COVID-19 and other tough global challenges.

"It was an excellent opportunity to bring together more than 50 partners from Europe and Asia to discuss our cooperation, and we are highly interconnected with many shared interests and solid ties," he said.

ASEM is comprised of 53 partners, including 21 Asian countries, 30 European countries, the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Union.

Collectively, ASEM partners represent 65 percent of the global economy, 60 percent of the world's population, 55 percent of the world trade and 75 percent of the world tourism, according to the organizers.

Founded in 1996, the biennial ASEM is an informal platform for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe, and Cambodia became its member in 2004. 


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(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)

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