#Kazakhstan president sets out vision at ASEM Summit

The 12th ASEM Summit (ASEM12) was held on 18-19 October 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The summit brought together the heads of state or government of 51 European and Asian countries, representatives of the European Union, and the Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The summit was chaired by European Council President Donald Tusk, while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini represented the EU.

Discussions focused on the theme 'Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges'.

The leaders sought to strengthen dialogue and co-operation between the two continents on a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, connectivity, sustainable development and climate, security challenges such as terrorism, non-proliferation, cyber-security and irregular migration.

They agreed to further connect both continents to boost trade, improve security, preserve the environment and bring societies closer.

The leaders also discussed foreign and security issues. Leaders called for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and they reaffirmed their support for the Iran nuclear deal, among others.

Prominent among them was Kazakhstan, whose president Nursultan Nazarbayev addressed the summit in a keynote speech:

President Nursultan Nazarbayev

“Today the number of conflicts is growing in different corners of the world.  Due to sanctions and trade wars on the rise international politics have become tense.

"Therefore, we should use the ASEM forum to effectively solve the  above mentioned issues,” he said.

“We know from history that a pragmatic dialogue among super powers is the guarantee of global stability and security. Regretfully, the international community is falling short of such dialogue and mutual understanding.

"Today we are all witnessing an economic and political, military confrontation similar to the Cuban crisis of the 60s of the previous century, especially with NATO's frontiers coming close to the Russian borders.

"How do we build the future together, how do we promote inclusive sustainable productivity without solving this issue?"

President Nazarbayev called upon major players such as the US, Russia, China, and EU to realize their responsibility to humankind and look for the path to resolve international confrontations.

He highlighted clashes and confrontation in Syria, Ukraine and other countries that will escalate further; WMD proliferation, transnational terrorism and deterioration of the world economy.

“Everyone is aware that national leaders before us have managed to find understanding after WWII, at the time of bloody wars and in combatting terrorism. This is also the demand of this time,” he said.

The president called upon the leaders of the US, Russia, China and the EU to get together to discuss these problems at UN special session, offering Astana as a platform for such a meeting.

He told the summit that Kazakhstan is ready actively to participate in a partnership of Asian and European nations to face global challenges, and to bring Europe and China closer.

The summit was also an occasion to discuss how to address global challenges such as climate change, migration, and digitalization.

"I deeply hope that our shared heritage and historical connections will help us to find common ground, and strengthen cooperation between our continents, so that we can create a better future for generations to come," said Donald Tusk at the ASEM summit's gala dinner.

The ASEM summit was followed by the EU-Korea summit and the EU-ASEAN leaders summit.

European and Asian leaders highlighted the vital need of maintaining an open world economy while upholding the rules-based trading system with the World Trade Organisation (WTO)at its core.

Leaders stressed the need to further strengthen and reform the WTO to help it meet new challenges and to improve its functioning.

They also highlighted the importance of deeper economic integration both at the regional and global level.

In the margins of the summit, the EU and Singapore signed a free trade agreement as well as an investment protection agreement.

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