Thailand and France as co-facilitator of the dedicated ASEM Working Group on Intellectual Property have organised four meetings in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004, respectively. This year, the meeting was held in Bangkok (Thailand), focusing on Geographical Indications. It was held in conjunction with the ASEAN Geographical Indication (GI) meeting at the same venue.

The meeting saw participation from ASEM countries, namely Thailand, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia Philippines and Vietnam from the Asian side, as well as France, Czech Republic, Latvia, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovak Republic and EU Commission from the European side.

Themes, Moderators and Speakers:

1. Geographical Indications Protection in Europe and Asia(moderated by Dr Kajit Sukhum, Director of Promotion and Development of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand)
   • Speaker 1: Ms Emawati Junus, Director of Trademark, DGIPR, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Indonesia
   • Speaker 2: Mr Jesus Zorrill, Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Agriculture, European Commission
2. International Aspect on the Extension of Geographical Indication Protection(moderated by Mr Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counsellor, Trade Section, Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand)
   • Speaker 3: Mr Antonio Berenguer, Administrator, Directorate-General for Trade, European Commission
   • Speaker 4: Dr Tanapoj Ekkayokkaya, Intellectual Property and Development Division, Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand
3. Valorisation of the Products and Territories for Sustainable Rural Development(moderated by Ms Ana Soeiro, Head of Division of Promotion Quality Products, Ministry of Agriculture, Portugal)
   • Speaker 5: Mr Liang Sen, Civil Servant, Trademark Office, China
   • Speaker 6: Mr Juan Bta Juan Gimeno, Director of Valencian Citrus Fruit, Spain
4. Geographical Indications Promotion: Possible Joint Initiatives(moderated by Dr Tanapoj Ekkayokkaya, Intellectual Property and Development Division, Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand)

• Speaker 7: Mr Daniel Boissieres, Head of Unit Co-operation and Bilateral Relations, Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery, France
• Speaker 8: Mr Tran Viet Hung, Deputy Director General, National Office of Intellectual Porperty, Vietnam