Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 1997

Vol. 480 No. 6

Written Answers - Europe-Asia Relations.

Pádraic McCormack

Question:

65 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress, if any, which has been made to develop relations between Europe and Asia, in particular through ASEM; and the steps, if any, which are being taken by Ireland to improve its relationships with and profile in this region. [14605/97]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. R. Burke):

There has been significant progress in recent years in relations between the European Union and Asia. The Union now has ongoing institutionalised dialogues with many Asian countries. The establishment of ASEM, Asia-Europe Meeting, has been a major factor in the development of closer relations between the participating European and Asian countries. The very successful inaugural summit meeting of ASEM in Bangkok on 1-2 March 1996 was attended by almost all the Heads of State or Government of the 15 EU member states and the President of the Commission on the European side, and of the seven ASEAN, Association of South East Asian Nations, member states and China, Japan and Korea on the Asian side.

This summit established a new comprehensive Asia-Europe partnership aimed at strengthening links between Asia and Europe to promote peace, global stability and prosperity. The partnership is to be specifically forged through fostering political dialogue, the reinforcement of economic co-operation, and the promotion of co-operation in the cultural and social fields. The Bangkok meeting established an extensive list of follow-up activities, mainly in the economic area, and various additional follow-up actions have been proposed. This is a welcome reflection of the interest and enthusiasm which ASEM has generated.

The first ASEM Senior Officials Meeting, SOM, following the Bangkok Summit took place in Dublin last December under the Irish EU Presidency. This prepared the way for the ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting which was held in Singapore in February of this year. Ireland has therefore been centrally involved in the ASEM process from the beginning and it is my intention to ensure that Ireland maintains and develops its profile in the ASEM process, which is of great importance to relations between Europe and Asia, and to Ireland.

The second ASEM summit which will be held in London on 3-4 April 1998 will bring together at the level of the Heads of State or Government the representatives of all the participating states, including Ireland. It will offer us the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the participating Asian countries and thus continue to improve our relations with these very important partners. It is my intention to attend the meeting of Foreign Ministers to be held on the eve of the summit.

In addition to the recently launched ASEM, the EU-ASEAN relationship has been developing for over twenty years. Regular meetings take place between the foreign Ministers of the two organisations to provide for an exchange of views on a wide range of political, security economic and other issues of mutual concern. The latest such meeting was held in Singapore on 13-14 February of this year.

Bilaterally, Ireland maintains close ties with many of the nations in the region. In addition to our resident embassies in New Delhi, Canberra, Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul, there is now an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and we have established diplomatic relations with a number of other countries on a non-residential basis. Senior officials of my Department and our Ambassadors in Asia met last February in Singapore to review our profile in Asia and see how the interest and image of Ireland might best be further promoted, particularly in the economic field.