New Year Message from the ASEM Senior Official for Romania
1 January 2019
Dear ASEM Senior Officials, contact points and dedicated MFA staff,
Dear ASEF Governors and staff,
As we bid farewell to 2018 and usher in 2019, I would like to take this auspicious occasion to send you our greetings and best wishes for the New Year.
Romania greatly appreciates the ASEM forum that strengthens relations between Heads of State and Government, facilitates bilateral contacts and helps to create favourable conditions for peace and prosperity at the international level. Such a process has never been as important as it is today, when we face many challenges.
Romania also sees great opportunity in supporting and promoting ASEF activities, which reinforce ASEM working topics, as well as the UN sustainable development agenda.
As you well know, Romania is holding the rotating presidency of the EU in the first half of the year. We are honored to also be ASEM coordinators for the European group, together with the EEAS, in the next 6 months.
This is the context in which Romania will organize, in Bucharest, on 11-16 May 2019, with the support of the National Rectors’ Council, several ample ASEF and ASEM events on education: the 7th ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting (15-16 May 2019) and the 2nd SOM ASEM Education Meeting (14 May 2019) back to back with the 7th ASEF Students’ Forum (11-14 May 2019), the 7th ASEF Rectors’ Council (13-14 May 2019).
Romania will actually be the first ASEM member to tap into the potential of complementary ASEF and ASEM events in the field of education, thus bringing the voice of civil society amidst the policy-makers.
The proposed theme of the ASEM Education Ministers is anchored into the main topics of the 12th ASEM Summit Declaration on the social-cultural statement: “Connecting education: inclusion, mobility and excellence in support of the Sustainable Development Goals”. We welcome wide participation at ministerial level as well as rectors and students level from all ASEM partners.
While looking forward to the coming year’s busy ASEM and ASEF event calendar, I wish you all good health, success in your endeavors and a prosperous 2019!
Radu-Gabriel Safta
ASEM Senior Official for Romania
