European Commission

Towards an Asia-Europe Partnership for Sustainable Development

At the ASEM Development Conference II, more than 200 high-level participants from ASEM member governments, international organisations, civil society and think-tanks came together to address common challenges and their implications for the future of international cooperation for development.

Discussion took place on topics such as the future of Asia-Europe cooperation for development, social cohesion, climate change and low-carbon development, and policy coherence for development.

A Background Study [3 MB] prepared for the Conference offers a wealth of information and analysis on these main thematic focus points.

The conference concluded with the adoption of the Yogyakarta Statement [55 KB] .

The Yogyakarta Statement issues a call for a move towards a more comprehensive, equal and mutually beneficial partnership between Asia and Europe that goes beyond aid. The statement is also a contribution to the agenda of the ASEM8 Summit, to be held on 4-5 October 2010 in Brussels.

The ASEM Development Conference II continued the dialogue established at the 7th ASEM Summit in Beijing, where ASEM countries expressed their commitment to addressing the issues surrounding sustainable development with the Beijing Declaration on Sustainable Development. The first ASEM Development Conference on 20-21 April 2009 in Manila also provided an opportunity to build on this dialogue among the Asian and EU partners. In the first conference's final statement [203 KB] Asian and European participants agreed to pursue cooperation to achieve the objectives set out in the Beijing Declaration.

 

The conference report [3 MB] is now available (August 2010). For more information, please contact Estelle Maitre.