McClay to attend Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers Meeting
Foreign AffairsAssociate Foreign Minister Hon Todd McClay is travelling to Luxembourg to attend the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers Meeting this week.
ASEM members include 53 European and Asian nations and represents nearly 60 per cent of the world’s GDP and around 60 per cent of its population.
New Zealand is coordinator for the North East and South East Asian members of ASEM – a group that includes New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Kazakstan, Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan and Russia.
Mr McClay will speak at the opening ceremony on behalf of those countries.
ASEM was formed in 1996 to deepen the relations between Asia and Europe.
“The meeting provides a significant opportunity for New Zealand to engage with European and Asian nations on important regional and multilateral issues facing the globe,” says Mr McClay.
“Ministerial discussions will focus on climate change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, disaster risk management and the future of ASEM as it looks to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2016.
“I look forward to attending the forum and advancing the bilateral ties between Europe and Asia,” says Mr McClay.