Participants of the ASEM Outlook Workshop in Brussels
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will undergo its third round of enlargement with the entry of Australia, Russia and New Zealand at the 8th ASEM Summit, which will be held in Brussels on 4-5 October 2010. This enlargement will bring the total number of member countries of ASEM to 46. These countries together account for over half of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In view of this important juncture in ASEM’s development, the ASEM Outlook Workshop, was held on 14-16 April 2010 in Brussels. It served as a platform for the exchange of views on the working methods of ASEM and on the emerging issues that could influence the future agenda of this informal dialogue process. This two-day workshop gathered a small group of ASEM experts and officials, including participants from the Summit host country ASEM coordinators from member countries and representatives of the Asia-Europe Business and People’s Fora. Also present were experts on various inter-governmental structures.
Discussions focused on how ASEM had evolved into what it is today, and on the possibilities for further enhancing its relevance, responsiveness and effectiveness as a dialogue process through improvements in its working methods in the years to come.
On the eve of the workshop, a public Roundtable on the prospects of the ASEM process was organised at the Brussels office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Read the full workshop briefing.