The Third Day of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
Saturday, October 9, 2004
The Fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) closed with the adoption of the three documents: the Chairman's Statement of the Fifth Asia-Europe Meeting that summarized the content of the discussions, the Hanoi Declaration on Closer ASEM Economic Partnership and the ASEM Declaration on Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations. The Chairman's Statement pointed out that "there is need for the ASEM countries to enhance their cooperative relations to combat threats such as acts of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trans-national crimes and for the United Nations (UN) to play the leading role in this respect," and "the leaders of the participating countries support the institutional reforms such as those of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council."
At the press conference, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "In the discussions I emphasized the necessity of reforming the UN in order to solidify the concerted initiatives of the international community. There is a need for international society to coordinate its actions in various regions of the world, including the issue of North Korea, and on such issues as terrorism and non-proliferation."
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