Belgium convened an ASEM Senior Officials’ Meeting in Brussels on 13-15 July 2010 to thoroughly prepare the ASEM 8 Summit to take place in Brussels on 4-5 October 2010.

For two days, Senior Officials from Asian and European ASEM partners, as well as from the three prospective new members Russian Federation, Australia and New Zealand, addressed organizational and substantive issues. They made good progress on the texts to be submitted to the leaders in October, confirming that the response to the economic and financial crisis and the advancement of sustainable development were the priorities of the coming Summit. The theme of the Summit, as may be recalled, is “Achieving greater well-being and more dignity for all citizens“, in short “Quality of Life“.

Senior Officials furthermore discussed ASEM working methods, future enlargements (as per the mandate of the 9th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting) and ongoing as well as new ASEM initiatives.