Thailand is hosting the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Symposium on      the Future Direction of ASEM on 30 March 2015 in Bangkok. All ASEM stakeholders are welcome to participate and take part in shaping the future relations and cooperation between Asia and Europe. 

As ASEM is approaching its 20^th Anniversary in 2016, it timely provides a great opportunity to seriously look back on the past 20 years and plan for its work and direction towards the 3^rd decade. The summary of the Symposium will be reported to the ASEM Senior Officials who will submit concrete recommendations on the future direction of ASEM to the next ASEM Leaders’ Meeting to be held in 2016 in Mongolia. The Symposium opens for all interested think-tank agencies, as well as other relevant stakeholders, especially from the following sectors: culture, business, NGOs, education, politics, media, youth and academia.

The Symposium will be conducted in a panel discussion format and will comprise of 5 sessions namely: (1) Overview session, (2) Political Pillar session, (3) Economic Pillar session, (4) Social and Cultural Pillar session, and (5) Conclusion session. The discussions will focus on 3 issues namely: (a) Stocktaking of ASEM’s past challenges and opportunities; (b) How do we wish ASEM to be in its third decade? and (c) Ways and means to achieve such objectives.

Participants of the Symposium are requested to complete the online registration via http://asemsymposiumbkk.europetouch.in.th/index.php before 15 March 2015. For more details on the Symposium and related documents, please visithttp://www.aseminfoboard.org/events/asem-symposium-future-direction-asem. 

Since the inception of the 1^st ASEM Summit in Bangkok in 1996 with 25 partners, ASEM has served as an informal process of dialogue and cooperation bringing now 53 members from Asia and Europe. This inter-regional group is vital to the global politics and the world economy. ASEM members are accounted for around half of the world’s GDP, more than 60% of the world’s population and around 60% of global trade. ASEM is the only dialogue where Asian and European Leaders meet biannually to address issues within 3 core pillars of ASEM, namely political, economic and cultural pillars, with the objective of strengthening the relationship and enhancing cooperation between the two regions.

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