13th ASEM Summit postponed to mid-2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic
Updated 17:57, 05-Jul-2020
CGTN

Cambodia has decided to postpone the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit, which was initially scheduled for November 16-17 in Phnom Penh, until mid-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a foreign ministry press statement on Saturday. 
  
The statement was released following an ASEM Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held via video conference on July 2-3. The meeting was chaired by Sok Siphana, a Cambodian government senior adviser and ASEM SOM Leader for Cambodia, and participated in by SOM Leaders of all ASEM Partners. 
  
"Due to COVID-19, however, all ASEM SOM Leaders unanimously expressed their understanding of and support for Cambodia's request to postpone ASEM13 to mid-2021," the statement said. 
  
It added that the need to promote effective multilateralism and a collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused not only daunting challenges to public health systems across the globe but also a severe fallout to the global economy, was stressed during the meeting.

A group photo of leaders attending the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 19, 2018. /Xinhua

A group photo of leaders attending the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 19, 2018. /Xinhua

"To this end, ASEM SOM Leaders discussed the draft ASEM Ministerial Statement on COVID-19, which is expected to be released in mid-July 2020," the statement said. 

Founded in 1996, ASEM is the most influential comprehensive partnership between Asia and Europe, boosting connectivity in all its dimensions between the two regions. It is now comprised of 53 partners, encompassing 21 Asian countries, 30 European countries, the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission.  
  
Collectively, ASEM partners represent 65 percent of the global economy, 60 percent of the world's population, 55 percent of world trade and 75 percent of world tourism.

The 12th ASEM Summit

The 12th ASEM Summit was held in Brussels in October 2018. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended the summit and urged Asian and European countries to boost connectivity

Read more: 

ASEM Summit: China's initiatives for Asia-Europe cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) attends the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 19, 2018. /Xinhua

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) attends the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 19, 2018. /Xinhua

Li called for the promotion of "hard connectivity" of infrastructure to build networks of transportation, industries and logistics across Asia and Europe. Involved countries should also enhance "soft connectivity" of systems, policies, rules and standards, he added, in order to stimulate capital, technology, services and data.

The Chinese premier called for efforts to strengthen the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with development strategies of various countries to realize common development and prosperity. He also urged Asian and European countries to uphold the leading role of multilateralism. 

(With input from Xinhua)

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