Prime Minister Vanhanen to attend the ASEM Summit in Vietnam
Government Information Unit
Press release 308/2004
1 October 2004
On Tuesday night, 5 October, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen will leave for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, to attend the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM cooperation process) that will take place on 7-9 October.
Cooperation under the aegis of ASEM was initiated in 1996 and the Hanoi Summit is to accept new members to the ASEM arrangement. From the EU's side, the number of members will increase by ten new member states. From the Asian side, the ASEM cooperation currently includes ten countries: Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. The new countries acceding to ASEM are Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
The main theme of the Hanoi Summit will be the activation and concretisation of cooperation between Asia and Europe. The ASEM cooperation covers three areas: political dialogue, economic matters and cultural and educational affairs. The Hanoi meeting will discuss, e.g., new global threats, including terrorism, weapons of mass-destruction and epidemics, and required measures to address these threats. The discussions will also centre on the World Trade Organisation, globalisation, international trade and issues relating to finance architecture.
The conclusions of the Hanoi Summit will provide guidelines to the ASEM process preceding the Helsinki Summit that will take place during the Finnish EU Presidency in autumn 2006. The meeting of the Heads of State or Government from 38 European and Asian countries and the President of the European Commission will be the biggest event to be organised during the Finnish EU Presidency. The Helsinki Summit is to be paralleled with a wide Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF) and a meeting of NGOs.
Prime Minister Vanhanen and Mrs Merja Vanhanen, who will accompany Prime Minister Vanhanen to Vietnam, will return to Finland on Sunday, 10 October.
Further information: Jukka Salovaara, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 9 1602 2068 and Mikko Norros, Deputy Head of Government Information, Government Information Unit, tel. +358 9 1602 4008 or +358 40 547 6280