Delegates suggested putting an ASEM cooperative group on sustainableand effective water management into operation and connecting initiativesand projects and other ASEM groups involving disaster risk mitigation,energy, food safety and poverty reduction.
Theyalso proposed organising ASEM seminars to exchange experiences inmonitoring rivers in the two continents while asking for support forefforts to narrow the development gap.
ASEM members were asked to intensify information sharing with research institutes and centres.
All proposals will be reported to the 12th ASEAM Foreign Ministers’Meeting in Luxembourg this November and the 11th ASEM Summit in Mongoliain 2016.
This year’s conference attractedapproximately 180 delegates from 53 ASEM members and regional andinternational organisations, including the Mekong River Commission, theInternational Commission for the Protection of the Danube River and theWorld Bank.
The next conference will be hosted by Bulgaria in 2016.-VNA