Statsministerens tale ved afslutningsceremonien på ASEM 4 Topmødet (Talen er på engelsk)

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Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been a great honour for Denmark – and a pleasure for me personally - to host the ASEM 4 Summit. I would like to express my appreciation to my distinguished ASEM colleagues for their knowledgeable and profound contributions to our deliberations.

I have sensed an “ASEM spirit” in our open, spontaneous and frank exchanges on the different items on our agenda. And I am particularly pleased that we reached results of direct, concrete relevance for our peoples.

The overall theme of the Summit, I believe, can be summed up in two main issues: “Globalisation” and “Counter-terrorism”. We have dealt with several aspects of Globalisation – the great opportunities it provides as well as its adverse consequences.

While broadly assessing the new security situation, our political dialogue dealt specifically with international terrorism. In many respects international terrorism can be regarded as the worst scourge of globalisation. Terrorists exploit the rapid global progress in information technology and infrastructure as well as the general increase in international interactions. Therefore, if terrorism and trans-national crime are to be combated effectively, united global efforts are required.

As responsible Heads of State and Government it is our task to ensure that all citizens of Asia and Europe are protected against terrorism. It is our responsibility to enable them to enjoy the fruits of globalisation and to avoid its possible disadvantages. I believe we have succeeded in taking decisive steps in this direction.

The Summit has adopted “The ASEM Copenhagen Declaration on Cooperation against International Terrorism” and “The ASEM Copenhagen Cooperation Programme on Fighting International Terrorism”. It is my firm conviction that this will constitute another important step in the global efforts to combat terrorism.

The enhanced ASEM efforts in this field will be developed further at a follow-up ASEM Seminar on Terrorism.

ASEM cooperation on regional security matters has been accelerated as well. An example of this is “The ASEM Copenhagen Political Declaration for Peace on the Korean Peninsula”. This important declaration highlights the active support from all ASEM partners for peace and reconciliation between the two Koreas.

The retreat session on cultures and civilisations was another example of how ASEM can contribute to counterbalancing unfortunate aspects of globalisation such as cultural misperceptions, prejudices and extremist views. All elements that may create a breeding ground for frustration and anger. ASEM proposes to counterbalance those elements with some of the best characteristics of a global community: mutual understanding, respect and friendship.

We achieved this through a very informal discussion about common values of the ASEM peoples. At the same time, we ensured respect for our cultural diversity. This demonstrates that ASEM constitutes a rare asset in international politics, and that ASEM is a process we should all treasure. In order to promote mutual understanding we decided to give more attention to activities in this area. Contacts between especially young people, between cities and the idea of ASEM Youth Games for our youngsters will be pursued in the further work.

This innovation of the ASEM 4 Summit, the Dialogue on Cultures and Civilisations, will be continued at a follow-up conference at the political level. I hope this type of dialogue will remain a firm part of the ASEM process.

Our discussions on economic cooperation once again proved that Asia and Europe have much to gain by working together to reap the benefits of increasing global economic integration. We decided to establish a Task Force to explore the possibilities to establish a closer economic partnership, in trade, in investments and in finance and to increase our knowledge about the economic developments in the two regions.

Our cooperation in the economic field is consolidated by the Action Plans for Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion. A new vision of regional free trade could be relevant if a successful outcome of the Doha Development Round is secured.

Finally, our discussions during today’s session explored how ASEM partners can all gain from globalisation. Enhanced ASEM cooperation in the field of Human Resources Development, Lifelong Learning and educational exchanges is a major part of the solution. Again decisions directly affecting our populations.

We will continue our cooperation on Human Resources Development, including its social dimension. An ASEM Workshop on the Future of Employment and the Quality of Labour will be arranged.

We will also keep our focus on environmental matters. The second ASEM Environment Ministers’ Meeting, to be hosted by Italy in 2003, is testimony to that.

Your Majesty, Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

Once again, I wish to acknowledge your active contributions and cooperation during our deliberations. Your efforts and enthusiasm have secured a successful outcome of this Summit. ASEM 4 thus stands for both consolidation and progress.

I now have the great pleasure of giving the floor to my distinguished colleague, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Phan Van Khai, whose country has been formally entrusted with preparations for the ASEM 5 Summit in Vietnam in 2004.

I am confident that Vietnam will skilfully take the ASEM process even further in connecting the more than two billion citizens of Asia and Europe. I wish you good luck in that important task and pledge the support of all of us in your endeavour.

Prime Minister, the floor is yours!

• Thank you very much Prime Minister KHAI
• Let me just announce the press conference at 12:15, which will be led by me together with the ASEM coordinators: China’s Prime Minister ZHU, Vietnam’s Prime Minister KHAI and the President of the EU Commission, Romano Prodi.
• Dear ASEM colleagues - This marks the end of the ASEM 4 Summit. I wish to thank you for coming to Copenhagen and hope you will all have a safe journey home.
• Thank you!