Europese en Aziatische ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken: samenwerking nodig bij bestrijding crisis (en) - Hoofdinhoud

Foreign Ministers of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) discussed ways to mitigate the effects of the economic crisis and to fight poverty, said János Martonyi, in the press conference following the meeting on 7 June in Gödöllo.

Speaking at a joint press conference, the Hungarian Foreign Minister and the meeting’s co-chair Foreign Minister of Laos,Thongloun Sisoulith called the two-day meeting of 48 Asian and European partners in Hungary, successful and future-oriented.

The Presidential Statement (final communication), which was unanimously adopted in the meeting, points out, although the ASEM partners acknowledges that the world is recovering from the economy crisis, they are still concerned about the unevenness of this upsurge within individual countries and among regions. Therefore, the ASEM partners called for closer cooperation and coordination concerning both, employment and growth.

In the ASEM’s plenary debate, several participants highlighted that they support the objectives that were set out by the G20, the organisation comprising of the 19 major economies and the European Union. „ASEM commits itself to continue supporting the work done and the initiatives taken by the G20, helping the global economy to be rendered strong and resistant to future crises.” the adopted communication declares.

The final document also deals with the results gathered from day one of the scheduled meetings. The participating countries stressed the importance of the cooperation in the field of non-traditional security challenges.

Protectionism is not a solution

In the plenary meeting, János Martonyi reminded the audience that the crisis is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity. According to the Minister, the markets expect jointly developed solutions from countries of the world; therefore, national actions should be aimed at the liberalisation of international trade relations, as opposed to protectionism.

A participant of the debate went so far as to say that, “We have to trade ourselves out from this crisis.” In the Presidential Statement, the 48 ASEM partners acknowledges the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has an institutional role in mitigating the pressure of protectionism, and stress that WTO members must do their utmost in order to develop the necessary solutions.

The model of the EU is viable for Asia as well

The Hungarian Foreign Minister, called for the attention of Asian countries to the European Union’s growth strategy, which covers several areas ranging from education through to employment, as well as all the way in order to the boost innovation. According to Mr Martonyi, the Europe 2020 Strategy has formulated objectives that can define an appropriate course of growth for countries of Asia as well.

Mr Martonyi has mentioned one of the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency, the Danube regional strategy of the EU, as a model to follow. “This is the symbol of a region that we call Central Europe” the Ministers said, who is of the opinion that it is a symbolic element in itself, not only the 8 affected EU Member States, but also other six non-EU Member States have participated in the cooperation. According to Mr Martonyi, the Mekong River, the “mother of all rivers”, could also serve as a backbone for a similar cooperation that will serve the economic, social and cultural development of the region.

Reduction of poverty is a shared responsibility

The combat against poverty was also a central topic of the ASEM meeting’s second day, which János Martonyi called one of the most serious problems of humanity, “The action or the lack of action of people” plays a key role. “We are all responsible for it, this is a global issue,” he said. The Foreign Minister stressed that the marginalisation of certain groups of society is a serious concern for Europe as well, “This is why the integration of the 10-12 million Roma who live in Europe is so important for us.”

Institutional development

The ASEM foreign ministers also agreed on a minor institutional change. They have resolved to establish a group for the technical support of the chairman’s work (ASEM Chairman Support Group, ACSG).