NEWS / Central Banks

Asia-Euro summit tackles global trade talks impasse

HELSINKI: Asian leaders, buoyed by their region??™s rapidly increasing economic and political clout, yesterday tackled issues ranging from trade to global warming with their European counterparts at a Helsinki summit.

The 25-nation European Union, both curious and cautious about Asia??™s growing role in world affairs, hosted leaders from China, Korea, Japan and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem), held every two years, rarely produces any concrete decisions but officials promised that a "strong message" on climate change would be included in the gathering??™s final statement today.

"The basic idea is to find a platform for work after 2012," the target date for the UN??™s Kyoto Protocol on reducing the world??™s greenhouse gas emissions, said a senior official from Finland, which holds the EU??™s rotating presidency.

The Finnish presidency kicked off the two-day summit by saying it had pressed Myanmar to improve its human rights and democracy record.

Despite criticism from human rights groups, Finland made an exception to an EU visa ban on officials from Myanmar??™s military junta so that Foreign Minister U Nyan Win could attend the Asem meeting.

As leaders arrived on Saturday, the eve of the summit, around 100 protestors were arrested after they clashed with riot police in central Helsinki at a demonstration against the presence of leaders from China and Myanmar.

Around 2,000 anti-globalisation protestors had held a largely peaceful demonstration earlier in the day.

The stalled WTO talks on liberalising global trade must urgently be resumed, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Asem delegates yesterday.

Five years of talks at the World Trade Organisation ground to an acrimonious halt in July.

"We must resume the (Doha) round without delay," Barroso said. "Other trade arrangements between regions and countries must be complementary to the multilateral trading system."

Bilateral trade deals between the EU and Asean states and between Europe and South Korea were also on the agenda at the Helsinki summit.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in a speech to formally open the talks reminded his listeners that "today Asem partners represent 40% of the world??™s population, 50% of global GDP and 60% of world trade".

But the balance of trade is rapidly moving in Asia??™s favour, in particular due to the meteoric economic rise of China. EU leaders are also keen to rival powerful US influence in a region where a few decades ago several European states possessed colonies.

Europe would also like to get China, which has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, on its side on issues such as Iran??™s nuclear programme.

Security issues ranging from North Korea??™s missiles and Iran??™s atomic ambitions to ensuring a steady supply of energy to fuel the two regions??™ economies, were also on the agenda here.

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun was expected to use the summit as an opportunity to sell his idea of multilateral security system for northeast Asia.

He was also expected to lay out Seoul??™s stance on North Korea??™s nuclear policy and recent missile tests.

Equally concerned about North Korea??™s missile programme, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has lobbied the Finnish premier to write concerns over Pyonyang??™s missile development into his chairman??™s statement at the summit??™s conclusion.

Relations between Koizumi and his Chinese and South Korean counterparts have been frosty lately because of the Japanese premier??™s repeated visits to a war shrine in Tokyo which honours top World War II war criminals among its dead.

But they appeared to thaw a little when Koizumi greeted his counterparts here as they gathered for the opening ceremony of the meeting that this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Five more countries - India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Bulgaria and Romania - were yesterday invited to join the Asem club. - AFP