Asia-Europe Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is an international
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...

, non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 that was established in 1997 by the countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting
Asia-Europe Meeting
The Asia–Europe Meeting was officially established in 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok. ASEM is an interregional forum which consists of the European Commission, the twenty-seven members of the European Union , the thirteen members of the ASEAN Plus Three regional grouping,, as of 2008, India,...

 (ASEM). Its mission is to promote mutual understanding and collaboration between the people of Asia and Europe through intellectual, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges.

In its first ten years, ASEF has organised over 450 thematic-based projects in Asia and Europe, in the form of conferences, lecture tours, workshops, seminars and online platforms. It has brought together around 15,000 direct participants and reaching out to an even wider audience in both regions.

History

In March 1996, the leaders of twenty-five countries, together with the European Commission, met in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 for the First Asia-Europe Meeting
Asia-Europe Meeting
The Asia–Europe Meeting was officially established in 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok. ASEM is an interregional forum which consists of the European Commission, the twenty-seven members of the European Union , the thirteen members of the ASEAN Plus Three regional grouping,, as of 2008, India,...

 (ASEM). In this inaugural meeting, they agreed for the establishment of ASEF in 1997 as a central institution of ASEM's social, cultural and intellectual pillar. One of the main tasks of ASEF was to become an interface between civil society groups and governments by facilitating interactions among people from diverse fields and transmits the resulting outputs as recommendations to policy-makers.

By nature, ASEF is different from other multilateral organisations, as it works with both ASEM governments and civil society. It injects civil society inputs to the ASEM governments, and at the same time works on creating sustainable networks and enhancing ASEM visibility in the society. This unique attribute allows ASEF's activities to generate ideas and solutions that would not normally emerge from purely inter-governmental or purely civil society processes.

To date, ASEF is the only permanent physical institution of ASEM process.

Structure

ASEF reports to a Board of Governors who are appointed by the 45 ASEM partners and meet twice a year. At its permanent office in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, ASEF is composed of an executive office, one administrative department, and the following four programme departments:

Cultural Exchange

Provides young artists and cultural professionals in Asia and Europe with an environment for dialogue, evolving into positive artistic interventions, dynamic cultural networks and cultural policy development in and between two regions. Its activities includes Asia-Europe Forum for Young Photographers http://www.asef.org/index.php?option=com_programme&task=view&id=33&Itemid=75, Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS)http://www.asemus.museum, and culture360.org web portal http://www.culture360.org.

Intellectual Exchange

It activities contributes to policy debate and strategic thinking by providing a common platform for discussion on the areas of governance, academic co-operation, dialogue on cultures and civilizations, international relations, and environment and sustainable development.

People-to-People Exchange

People-to-People Exchange programme seeks to strengthen youth networks, in particular among the next generation of leaders. Activities cover two main areas: educational exchanges, and cooperation and dialogues between youth and their organisations (e.g. Asia-Europe Young Political Leaders Symposium and Asia-Europe Young Entrepreneurs Forum).

Public Affairs

Public Affairs programme provides publicity and press support for ASEF activities and seeks to raise public awareness of issues pertaining to Asia-Europe relations through media activities, such as TV documentaries, public lectures, the use of the Internet (the ASEM Infoboard http://www.aseminfoboard.org), publication of newsletters and the academic Asia-Europe Journal http://aej.asef.org.

Funding

ASEF is funded by voluntary contributions from its partner governments and shares the financing of its projects with its civil society partners across Asia and Europe.

Executive Directors

  • Tommy Koh
    Tommy Koh
    Tommy Koh was born in Singapore on 12 November 1937. He is an international lawyer, professor and Ambassador-At-Large for the Government of Singapore...

    , ( Singapore), 1997–2000
  • Delfin Colomé, ( Spain), 2000–2004
  • Wonil Cho, ( South Korea) 2004-2008
  • Dominique Girard
    Dominique Girard
    Dominique Girard may refer to:* Dominique Girard , French ambassador to India* Dominique Girard , landscape architect...

    , ( Early Modern France), incumbent
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