Asia-Europe Economic Forum
A joint project of:
Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Global Security Research Centre, Keio University
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy
Centre for International Commerce and Finance, Seoul National University
1. Motivation
There has been a growing recognition of the need to strengthen the economic and security ties between Asia and Europe. This need has led the two regions to establish many cooperative arrangements at the private and official level for the last two decades. One of the most significant developments has been the creation in 1996 of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an intergovernmental organization with the objective of promoting common development and prosperity. Since its inception, ASEM has contributed a great deal to strengthening the linkage between the two regions.
However, intergovernmental entities work better and are more effective if they are complemented by private sector initiatives for closer economic, cultural, and security ties. In recognition of this need for diversifying and consolidating the linkage between the two regions at the private sector level, the five institutions from Asia and Europe have agreed to establish an Asia-Europe Economic Forum (AEEF), to serve as a high level forum that gives Asian and European policy experts and practitioners an occasion for in-depth, research-based exchanges on global issues of mutual interest.
2. Objectives
The aim of AEEF is to organize a series of conferences taking place in Asia and in Europe. As a start-up phase, it is agreed to start with one conference in Beijing on July 13-14, 2006 followed by one in Europe at end of 2006 or in early 2007. The frequency and format of the subsequent conferences will be reviewed in the light of this experience.
It is expected that about 40 scholars and experts in economics and related fields from China, Japan, Korea, and the EU as well as from other Asian, European and other countries will participate in each conference. These participants are active or former senior policymakers, recognized academic experts and private sector specialists. The list of invitees will depend on the topics of the conferences.
Each session will have one paper presentation and lead discussion by one or two discussants. Papers should not be academic; rather they should assemble the available evidence, and aim at providing a framework and setting out the issues for the discussion. For the public panel, there will be no papers, but a wrap-up of the seminar and a discussion on its main themes.
The first Asian conference in Summer 2006 will take place in Beijing. The three Asian countries are expected to take turn in organizing the Asian conference. BRUEGEL will be in charge of organizing the first conference in Europe. Other European institutions may participate in the initiative and take responsibility for organizing further conferences in Europe.
The conference will be an event of one day and a half, consisting of four to five sessions, each session running about two hours. The conference will also include a session or dinner where the participants have the opportunity to interact with senior policymakers (minister, central bank governor or equivalent) from the two regions.
The topic of the first Beijing conference will be “Causes and consequences of global imbalances”. It will analyse the growing current account imbalances, assess the risks of their abrupt unwinding and discuss policy options for Europe and Asia.
The topic of the second conference to be held in Europe will be “Economic integration between countries of different development levels: European and Asian experiences”. It will examine the process of economic integration through trade, capital flows and migrations taking place on the two continents and discuss the interrelation between private-sector-driven integration and institutional integration.