ASEM SUMMIT STARTS FRIDAY

Beijing, Oct 24 (ANTARA) - The seventh Asia-Europe (ASEM-7) summit to be participated in by 43 heads of state/government and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will be opened here at 4 on Friday afternoon.

The opening ceremony will be held in the Great Hall of the People Auditorium at 4 pm local time or 3 p.m. West Indonesia Time (WIB).
The theme of ASEM-7 is "Vission and Action: Torward Win-Win Solutions."
Leaders scheduled to give opening address at the ASEM-7 are Chinese President Hu Jintao as host, Finnish President Tarja Halonen as host of ASEM-6 in Helsinki, European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
After posing for a photograph, the heads of state/government will hold their first closed-door meeting to discuss various global issues such as food resilience and disaster management.
On Friday evening, the 27 European and 16 Asean leaders will attend a banquet.
And on Saturday they will meet again to discuss improvement in trade and investment between Asia and Europe, sustainable development in Asia and Europe to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), energy and climate change issues, and a dialog to strengthen mutual understanding.
The seventh ASEM summit will be closed by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jianbao and Belgian Prime Minister Yves Laterne at 3:20 on Saturday afternoon.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and Finnish President Tarja Halonen are scheduled to hold joint press conference on Saturday evening to announce the outcome of the summit.
ASEM was established in 1996 in an effort to strengthen Asian-European dialog in the field of politics, economy, and culture.
Seven new members who join the ASEM-7 in Beijing from October 24-25 are India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Asean Secretariat.