Phnom Penh (FN), Mar. 10 – Speaking at the opening of the ASEM Day on Tuesday at Wat Botum Park, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said that the celebration of the ASEM Day today is another manifestation of Cambodia's readiness and strong commitment to the ASEM13 aside from raising awareness among the public on the importance of ASEM.

He added that all ASEM events that will be organised in Cambodia throughout this year is particularly relevant to the youth.

“Youth is our future: the sooner they can grasp the opportunities of this Asia-Europe partnership, the better prepared they are to secure their future beyond the geographical confines of Cambodia. In fact, I have mentioned earlier that Cambodia will host also a Young Leaders Summit that will provide good opportunities for youth to interact with political leaders from Asia and Europe at the highest level,” he stressed.

The minister added that the hosting the ASEM13 is not merely about this single historic event. In fact, Cambodia will organise a series of other ASEM events throughout this year, including eight side events, namely: the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting, the Asia Europe Economic and Business Forum, the ASEF Young Leaders Summit, the ASEF Editor's Roundtable, the Asia-Europe Labor Forum, the Asia-Europe People's Forum, the ASEM Cultural Festival and a Forum on Women in Peace and Security.

“Since 2004, the year we became its partner, we have actively contributed on all pillars to make this forum for cooperation between Asia and Europe more dynamic. As a small but nonetheless sovereign state, we value foremost its core principles of informality, flexibility, and mutual respect in the spirit of consensus and equal partnership,” the minister reaffirmed.

Nowadays, ASEM is comprised of 53 partners, encompassing of 21 Asian countries, 30 European countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, and the European Union (EU). Collectively. ASEM partners represent 65% of the global economy. 60% of the world's population, 55% of the world trade and 75% of the world tourism.

Minister Prak Sokhonn underlined that the celebration of the ASEM Day this year is particularly special and auspicious for Cambodia for the obvious reason that the Kingdom will be hosting the 13th ASEM Summit (ASEM13) in Phnom Penh on 16-17 November.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also stated during the Official Launch of Cambodia's Hosting of the ASEM13 Summit on 31 January 2020 that the ASEM13 will be the biggest and historic diplomatic event in Cambodia's history. The hosting of the Summit is the greatest opportunity for Cambodia to affirm, at the highest level, our commitment to strengthen the multilateral system, our contribution to the promotion of collective efforts to address global challenges, and our participation in exploring opportunities to revitalize the global economy.

To this end, Cambodia has proposed "Strengthening Multilateralism for Shared Growth as the theme of the Summit. This theme focuses on the interaction of four main ideas, namely: Multilateralism, Growth, Sustainable Development and Prosperity. Altogether they can contribute formidably to the strengthening of the Asia-Europe partnership to ensure that multilateralism brings sustainable and inclusive growth and shared prosperity, according to H.E. Prak Sokhonn.
=FRESH NEWS