THE VIII ASIA-EUROPE MEETING (ASEM 8), 4-5 OCTOBER 2010, BRUSSELS

The VIII Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 8) was held on 4 and 5 October 2010 in Brussels, Belgium. This biennial Summit brings together the Heads of State and Heads of Government of the 27 Member States of the European Union and 16 Asian countries, the European Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat. It aims at enhancing the dialogue on current political, economic, financial and socio-cultural issues. It is also an important platform to stimulate rapprochement and partnership among participants. ASEM 8 will in addition officially welcome new members Russia, Australia and New Zealand.

YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia led the Malaysian delegation at the Summit and was accompanied by YB Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. Other members of delegation were senior officials of the Office of Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia.

The Summit provided the avenue for leaders from Asia and Europe to exchange views on ways to recover from and prevent financial crisis. They also discussed the relevance of the internal and global G-20 mechanism to reform the world’s financial and monetary system and structure as well as global and regional issues including the future of ASEM.