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| Slovak voice in the Europe-Asia dialogue |
| Bratislava, 10.11.2015 |
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| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák is representing Slovakia at the 12th ASEM ministerial meeting of Asian and European countries in Luxembourg. ASEM is an informal platform associating more than 50 European and Asian countries, which together represent 60% of the world’s population and global trade.
This year ASEM revolves around cooperation for a sustainable and secure future. In the first part of the meeting, the ministers delved into climate change. “Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of today as it affects all aspects of development. They include better healthcare, eradicating poverty, economic growth and elimination of regional inequalities,” noted Minister Lajčák in his address.
He also recalled the Slovak contribution, within which it committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and called upon other countries to also get engaged in this global effort: “A lot is at stake. Addressing climate change is critical to the success of the new development agenda and sustainable development goals. To fail is not an option. We must deliver. It is our shared responsibility towards our people, our environment and future generations,” emphasized Minister Lajčák at the ASEM ministerial meeting plenary session.
On the sidelines of the main session, he also attended individual talks of the Visegrad Four countries with South Korea and Japan.
In the case of South Korea, the dialogue with the Visegrad Four at the ministerial level launched a year ago during the Slovakia´s V4 Presidency and quickly brought encouraging results. “This format has proved its potential already in its first year with concrete activities and dynamic cooperation in several areas,” stated Minister Lajčák at the meeting of the V4 ministers and their South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se. As an example, he mentioned the fact that South Korea has - among other things - become a contributor to the International Visegrad Fund. The ministers discussed other areas of cooperation like science and research or infrastructure at the meeting.
At the V4 ministers´ meeting with the Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, they appreciated that the contacts have already functioned in this format for 12 years and brought forth many joint projects. They also opened the issue of extending the existing joint activities to science, research, energy, as well as defense and peace-and-stability reinforcement.
“In the past years we have created a successful framework for the V4-Japan cooperation in many areas and we are constantly bringing it to new dimensions. I hope that other fields of cooperation will also be as successful as those that already exist,” said Minister Lajčák. On behalf of the Visegrad Four, he also informed his Japanese counterpart about the developments in Ukraine, as well as the V4 initiatives aimed at supporting the reform and transformation process there. MZV |
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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