Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo said that the Philippine participation in the upcoming summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) would be an opportunity for the country to intensively engage the European Union (EU) through all channels of dialogue, cooperation and understanding.

At a briefing for the DFA Media Corps, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Jaime J. Yambao said, “The fifth summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting provides the Philippines the opportunity to engage with the EU at the highest level, to deepen ties and present a positive image of the country.”

“With the reiteration that Europe is one of the realities in the implementation of Philippine foreign policy, Secretary Romulo instructed the Philippine Delegation to the Fifth ASEM Summit (ASEM 5) to give out the message that Europe matters to the Philippines as a major trade, investments and development partners and that we want to even further enhance relations and cooperation with them, for we may see the resurgence of Europe as a big power in the not so distant future,” Assistant Secretary Yambao added.

The fifth leaders meeting or summit of the ASEM 5 will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 07 to 09 October 2004, with the theme “Further Revitalizing and Substantiating the Asia-Europe Partnership.” The Philippine delegation will be led by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself and she will be accompanied by the Secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry and other senior government officials.

Assistant Secretary Yambao said “some of the topics to be discussed during the actual Summit were discussed in the Senior Officials’ Meeting recently held in Hanoi on 05-07 September, including the enlargement of the Association, the importance of the Asia-Europe Foundation as well as various initiatives of the member countries.

Assistant Secretary Yambao informed that there would be five important meetings/sessions during the Summit where the President will deliver interventions, expounding Philippine views on selected agenda topics. These sessions include an informal working dinner on recent regional developments; the first closed session on global challenges; a retreat session on the future of ASEM; the second closed session on closer economic partnership between Asia and Europe; and the third closed session on cultural diversity in the age of information and globalization.

“The Philippines, as an active member of ASEM, is co-sponsoring with Portugal a proposal for an ASEM Oceans Initiative which aims to establish an informal network of experts from Asia and Europe on marine environmental protection and marine scientific research,” Assistant Secretary Yambao said. “At the first meeting of the initiative, it is envisioned that the experts would share ideas and formulate concrete cooperation projects in capacity-building and marine technology transfer,” he added.

As another initiative, according to Assistant Secretary Yambao, the Philippines has also agreed to co-sponsor together with Sweden, the Netherlands and Vietnam an ASEM initiative on Cooperation on HIV/AIDS.

“Of course, in line with President Arroyo’s 10-point agenda for development, the Philippine delegation also intends to pursue enhanced cooperation with its European partners in the fields of SME development and greater trade markets. The President wants to take advantage of the recent EU expansion from 15 to 25 members, creating an integrated market of about 455 million people. And its members are further integrating in the political and social fields. The President wants these developments to have a positive impact on Asia and to the Philippines in particular,” Assistant Secretary Yambao explained.

ASEM is an informal process of dialogue that has brought together the 15 member countries of the EU, the European Commission, China, Japan, Korea and the first seven member countries of ASEAN (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Since its first Summit held in 1996 in Bangkok, Thailand, ASEM has become a platform for closer and constructive engagement between Asia and Europe in addressing issues of common interest and concern. ASEM cooperation and dialogue is structured along three pillars: political, economic and cultural, with the objective of strengthening the relationship between the two regions, in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.

To date, ASEM has had a total of four Summits. The second was held in London, the third in Seoul and the fourth in Copenhagen. Summits are held every two years. ASEM also conducts Foreign Affairs, Trade, Finance, Environment and other Ministerial Meetings, as well as regular senior officials' meetings.

ASEM 5 will be a landmark in the Asia-Europe partnership because for the first time, ASEM will be enlarged. The ten European countries that recently acceded to the EU (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia) and the three remaining ASEAN member states (Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar) will become full-fledged ASEM members. Their accession to ASEM will bring the total number of membership, from the current 26, to 39.