Nusa Dua (Bali), July 07: Foreign ministers of the Asian-Europe meeting (ASEM) have collectively agreed on the need to support the global recovery in order to achieve higher sustainable growth and employment creation through sound macro-economic policies and structural reforms. The consensus was achieved here at the end of their two-day fifth ASEM Finance Ministers Meeting (FMM) which was attended by 10 Asian and 14 European countries.

Malaysia was represented by second finance minister, Jamaludin Jarjis, who headed a seven-member delegation. A total of 14 delegates from the international monetary institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and ASEM Task Force, also attended the meeting which was first held in Thailand in 1996.
"They emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation among ASEM partners in order to maintain the momentum of the world economic growth," said a joint press statement read out by Indonesian finance minister, Boediono, who chaired the meeting.

The statement said that the cooperation was also imperative so as to foster orderly development in international financial markets as well as to promote an orderly and fairly shared adjustment of international imbalances.

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the global effort to accelerate development, reduce poverty and achieve the millennium development goals aimed at reducing poverty, in line with the commitments adopted in Monterrey, Doha and Johannesburg.
They also reaffirmed their strong commitment to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

Bureau Report