Finland, the host of the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem), wants leaders to come up with a clear direction for the forum at the 10th summit on September 10 and 11.

Speaking at yesterday's press conference, Lars Backstrom, Fin-nish Ambassador to Thailand, said Finland hoped to see leaders adopt a declaration to outline the roadmap for future cooperation.

He said in spite of its 10-year existence, Asem had not been visible compared to the well-organised Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum. "We have to push forward a lot harder for a clear direction," he said.

One of the reasons, he said, was people's lack of awareness of the many facades of Asem, unlike Apec, which concentrated on economic cooperation. Asem covers a wide range of issues, including culture, security and economic cooperation, and its leaders meet every two years, unlike the annual Apec summit.

Backstrom said caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had agreed to attend the meeting to tell the other countries about Thailand's experience of hosting the first Asem summit in Bangkok 10 years ago.

Asked if the prospective free-trade agreement (FTA) between East Asia and the European Union would be on the agenda, he said: "I wouldn't be surprised if it comes up during the meeting, but it's still very early to tell."

He said Asem would also discuss ways to revitalise the multilateral trade negotiations of the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round. If multilateral talks did not progress, bilateral FTAs between the two regions might be a good alternative, he added.

"If Doha doesn't work, we should not just sit and wait for miracles to happen,." he said.

Backstrom added that Asia could cooperate more with the European Union on trade activities.

Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation