Cambodia´s ASEM Chairmanship 2020: Small Country with Big tasks

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an Asian-European political dialogue forum founded in 1996 with an aim to enhance relations and cooperation between the countries in Asia and Europe. The initial goal of ASEM at its inception was to provide a platform to foster political dialogues, strengthen economic and cultural cooperation, and tackle global challenges. From 2020 onwards, Asia and Europe need to deepen their cooperation in multi-faceted areas given growing trade and connectivity initiatives between the two regions, and the threat of trade protectionism in other parts of the world. In terms of trade, the bilateral turnover between the two continents has so far reached €1.5 trillion per annum, and their combined Gross Domestic Products account for approximately 60 per cent of the global GDP. Apart from the growing trade, the number of connectivity initiatives still lag behind the development needs of the two continents. In addition, the global trade today has been significantly curtailed by the rising trade protectionism steered by certain global powers; therefore, Asian and European countries should endeavour to defend the multilateral trading system for continuous and shared economic prosperity. Next year, the Kingdom of Cambodia, as an ASEM member, has the great pleasure to host the 13th Asia-Europe Summit for the very first time in the history of this small nation. This is a great opportunity for Cambodia to showcase its achievements and grab the opportunities brought by initiatives of the forum. However, the Kingdom is also facing some difficulties in hosting such a big historical event. In order to overcome the hardship, the Kingdom is expected to learn from the past experiences of different countries in organizing the event, as well as to come up with substantial initiatives, which bring tangible and positive outcomes for the deepening cooperation between the two continents. In doing so, the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), an independent think tank based in Cambodia, in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Phnom Penh, decided to publish a book entitled: “Cambodia’s ASEM Chairmanship 2020: Small Country with Big Tasks”. This book is a compilation of perspectives and inputs of prominent scholars and senior foreign policy makers across Asia and Europe with the aim to provide knowledge about what ASEM is, its relevance, opportunities and challenges of implementing ASEM initiatives, perspectives of the ASEM partners towards the forum, and what can be done to concretize the ASEM cooperation initiatives. Furthermore, the book provides insights into rationales of Cambodia’s decision to chair such a big event, despite its limited resources. We, the AVI and KAS team members, believe that this book will be a big contribution to readers in their pursuit of deepen and broaden their knowledge about ASEM-related issues, and to those attempting to address and overcome challenges facing the forum. Needless to say, the book is undoubtedly useful for policy makers, academics and students of International Relations. We wish you a good read and new insights! Phnom Penh, 25 July 2019 Asian Vision Institute & Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS)