Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary of State takes part in meeting on extended European-Asian dialogue

On 2-3 March in Brdo, Slovenia, the Latvian Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary of State, Edgars Skuja, took part in a gathering of senior officials of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) which carried out preparations for the ASEM Summit to be held in October this year.

During the talks, topical international issues were reviewed, such as the Middle East peace process, the situation in Burma/Myanmar and in Afghanistan, as well as future co-operation directions for relations between the European Union (EU) and the countries of the Asian region.

Representatives from ASEM countries devoted their attention also to such issues as the impact of globalisation on the economic development and competitiveness of Europe and Asia. Broader co-operation in the areas of security and politics, energy security and climate change was also discussed.

Within the framework of the event, the Latvian Under-Secretary of State Edgars Skuja met with the Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister, Doan Xuan Hung, and the Director of the Department of European Affairs at the Foreign Ministry of Thailand, Busadee Santipak, as well as with the Assistant Secretary of State of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Rey Carandang, addressing the question of relaxation of the visa regime for Latvian citizens travelling to the these countries.

The ASEM activities were initiated in 1996, to develop the Europe-Asia relationship. Ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian  Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Burma/Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as Japan, China, Mongolia, Pakistan, South Korea, EU Member states and the European Commission participate in the process.

Further information on the ASEM is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/asem/intro/index.htm

 

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