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ASEM Cultural Festival: a cultural bridge between Asia and Europe

The ASEM Cultural Festival (ASEMfest) is a public arts festival which offers a diverse range of programming from Asia and Europe including performances, exhibitions, and discussions, showcasing the best of traditional and contemporary art from the two continents. Held alongside the key meetings of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), i.e. ASEM Summits and ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meetings (ASEMFMM), the Festival supports strengthening of the dialogue among the ASEM Partners by promoting and supporting cultural connectivity between Asia and Europe.

In October 2018, at the 12th ASEM Summit (ASEM12), “Leaders welcomed the principle of having regular ASEM Cultural Festivals in connection with ASEM Summits and ASEM Foreign Minister Meetings to strengthen inter-cultural dialogue among ASEM partners, including the mobility of artists and culture professionals, through exchanges and peer-to-peer learning”.

The next edition of the Festival will be alongside the 13th ASEM Summit (ASEM13) in Cambodia, which will be held on the 22 and 26 of November. For further details, see the section on “Current Edition”

Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)

ASEM is a unique, informal platform for political dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe on the big challenges of a fast-changing world, such as connectivity, trade and investment, climate change, but also broad security challenges such as counter-terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyber issues There are currently 51 Partner countries, of which 30 are European and 21 are Asian, along with the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat, which makes a total of 53 Partners. In many respects, recent developments in the international landscape have increased the value of ASEM as a key building block for an open, cooperative, and rules-based international system. ASEM is conducted as an informal and flexible process on the basis of equal partnership, mutual respect and mutual benefit. It aims to promote the exchange of ideas and best practices and thus act as a breeding ground for new policy ideas. In short, ASEM is the most influential comprehensive partnership between Asia and Europe, boosting connectivity in all its dimensions between the two regions.

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