Asia, Europe march ever closer
ASEM meeting - Photo c 2011, András Péter Németh
(GODOLLO) - From nuclear safety to climate change and growth, 46 nations from Asia and Europe wound up two days of talks Tuesday pledging to tighten the bonds between 60 percent of the planet's people.
Hosted by Hungary, current chair of the rotating European Union presidency, foreign ministers from the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) concluded talks held in the 18th-century Godollo castle outside Budapest with a 21-page statement setting a joint agenda on issues ranging from food security to organised crime.
"We are all inter-dependent," said Hungary's Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi. "All parties agreed on the deepening of this cooperation."
There was no show of dissension at the informal talks, a biennial event interspersed by an annual ASEM summit that aims at consensus between nations as diverse as poor Mongolia and Europe powerhouse Germany.
Even the prickly question splitting Asia and Europe of who will step into the IMF shoes of Dominique Strauss-Kahn was kept off-bounds, with Asian leaders largely steering clear of the issue -- with the exception of tiny Laos and new ASEM member Australia.
"I think a successor is appropriate from Europe and from France," said Laotian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.
Though emerging powers are demanding an end to the gentleman's agreement which has seen the United States and Europe share IMF and World Bank chairmanship for decades, Japan and India refused a clear comment on the issue.
But Australia's Kevin Rudd, putting in his country's first appearance at the growing forum, cautioned that Asia's increasingly important role on the world stage merited recognition.
Lauding Europe's favoured candidate, France's Christine Lagarde, he told AFP: "Asia represents the dynamic new element in the global economy ... so it is equally legitimate to have strong candidates from this region as well."
In their 99-point closing statement, ASEM ministers notably expressed strong concern over the volatility of commodities prices, specially food and energy, warning this posed a serious challenge to the world economy.
"Food, water, energy and climate security are interconnected and inseparable. These four elements underpin global security, prosperity and equity."
Ranging from counter-terrorism to nuclear safety and recovery from the global financial crisis, ministers also exchanged views on regional crises -- Afghanistan and North Korea on the one side, the Arab Spring on the other -- as Asia and the EU move ever closer on trade.
Japan last month took a key step towards striking a free trade deal with the world's biggest market, following in the footsteps of rival South Korea, as India treads with care on the same path.
"The dialogue reflects the importance of the solid engagement between Europe and Asia," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
ASEM groups the EU, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand and Russia -- four billion people representing over 60 percent of world trade.
"Counter-terrorism, disaster management, nuclear safety and security and also climate change and nuclear non-proliferation, all of these are challenges in the interest of all," said Japan's Foreign Minister Matsumoto Takeaki.