India's Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari Monday said that the international community was facing a degree of unprecedented sophistication in non-traditional security threats and needed the ASEM's potential between economic partners and civil society.
The vice president was addressing the inaugural session of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers Meeting here with the theme "ASEM: Bridge to Partnership for Growth and Development".
He said, "our forum brings together 60 percent of the world's population, 52 percent of the global gross domestic product and close to 70 percent of the world trade."
"We are witnessing an important evolution in the political-security and socio-economic architectures across the two continents, as also globally. The world economy continues to be sluggish and emerging economies which were previously seen as the engines of economic growth have been compelled to take tough decisions they can ill afford, given the enormity of their developmental needs," Ansari said.
"In today's context, therefore, the strategic importance of the Asia-Europe partnership is evident. I believe we should look to optimise ASEM's potential with a sense of greater urgency."
"We should endeavour to take it beyond being a forum for political dialogue only and make it reach out to the people of member states and create wider stake-holding amongst economic partners and civil society. We should invest its outcomes with tangible deliverables," he added.
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Ansari said: "Collective action under the ASEM can strengthen the understanding between our peoples, the dynamism in our economies and the realisation of our developmental priorities. It can also help us to continue the process of understanding and consultation between ASEM countries in order to respond more effectively to global challenges."
He hoped that discussions will come up with ideas for using the synergies available in the collective capacity within the ASEM.
"While Asia has the strength of emerging markets and its human resource potential, Europe has existing capacities and an edge in technological innovations. There are natural and beneficial partnerships here, which can be strengthened further. Bringing about greater focus on areas of relevance for developing countries and emerging markets will allow us to tap into areas of positive growth and prosperity," he added.
The ASEM is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation bringing together the 27 European Union member states, two European countries, and the European Commission with 20 Asian countries and the ASEAN Secretariat.