Europe

July 26, 2023
Japanese

About ASEM

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an intergovernmental process established in 1996 to foster dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe in a wide range of areas including politics, economy, culture and society. The ASEM consists of 51 countries and 2 organizations； 22 Asian members (21 countries and 1 organization (ASEAN Secretariat)), 31 European members (30 countries and 1 organization (European Union)).

(Note)
The ASEM logo was decided at the Fifth ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali, July 2003. It expresses the idea of interaction and cooperation between Europe and Asia through the intertwined forms of an Asian brush-stroke and a simplified roman E. These are also combined to form the letters A and E, symbolizing Asia and Europe. The logo represents two different yet intertwined cultures of East and West seeking ways to come together and interact. The colors of the logo -- blue and red -- represent Europe and Asia respectively.

ASEM Partners

ASIA: 22 members
Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, ASEAN Secretariat
EUROPE: 31 members
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, European Union

Summit and Ministerial Meetings

Summit Meetings

Foreign Ministers’ Meetings

About Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

ASEF was founded in Singapore on February 15, 1997 as a sole permanent body of ASEM to promote exchanges between the two regions. The foundation is operated by ASEM partners, which consist of 21 Asian countries and one organization, and 30 European countries and one organization, through their own contributions. It is responsible for activities in the socio-cultural field, one of the three pillars of ASEM, and carries out its own activities or supports the activities of other organizations in the areas of people-to-people, intellectual and cultural exchange with a view to enhancing mutual understanding between Asia and Europe.

Japan’s Contribution to Public Health Activities through ASEF

Japan has been supporting ASEF’s public health activities such as “ASEM Initiative for the Rapid Containment of Pandemic Influenza”. Japan announced the launch of this Initiative in 2008 in response to the growing risk of a new influenza pandemic in the Asian region. In this Initiative, ASEF has been conducting a stockpile project providing ASEM partners with stockpiled items, such as antiviral drugs and personal protective equipment, capacity building of pandemic preparedness led by WHO in South East Asia, as well as public health network projects including seminars on risk communication, to enable rapid response in the event of a pandemic of infectious diseases such as a new strain of influenza. Japan made an additional contribution to this project in 2021 in response to the pandemic of COVID-19. The promotion of cross-border people-to-people exchange may have side effects such as the spread of infectious diseases. Japan’s support to this project is based on the recognition that pandemic countermeasures are also important in boosting people-to-people exchange.

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