Press Release: ASEM Task Force on closer economic partnership

Asian and European leaders endorsed an initiative on 24 September 2002 by European Commission President Romano Prodi and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to promote Asia-Europe cooperation in the areas of: - trade (to promote trade flows and reduce trade barriers) - investment (to increase investment flows towards both regions, including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises' access to markets) - finance (to enhance financial cooperation including the full use of the Euro as a transaction and reserve currency and the creation of a Eurobond market in Asia, and to assess the euro's impact on money markets)