HANOI, Oct. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- More than 300 business delegates from Asia and Europe gathered in Hanoi Thursday to seek more opportunities to promote free flows of trade and investment between the two continents in the coming years.

    The annual 9th Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF IX) opened herejust before the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, to be held here Friday. On the sideline of the ASEM 5, business representatives from Asia and Europe focus their efforts on finding out solutions to overcome challenges and seeking opportunities in areas of mutual economic interests including trade, investment and infrastructure, financial services, information and communication technologies, food, tourism and small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said at the opening ceremony of AEBF IX that trade relations between the two continents have dated back as long as evidenced by the Silk Road. Today, Asia and Europe are key trade and investment partners of each other.

    The inception of ASEM eight years ago reflects the trend of globalization and regionalization as well as the two continents' earnest desire for deepened cooperation to bring prosperity to each individual country and the two regions as a whole, said Khoan.

    However, there are more potentials and needs to deepen the cooperation. Various free trade areas and closer economic partnerships are in the process of taking shape, Khoan said.

    He said that ASEM members have agreed to choose the theme of ASEM 5 as "Further Revitalizing and Substantiating the Asia-EuropePartnership" with economic cooperation as a center. And for the first time, a declaration on closer Asia-Europe economic partnership will be adopted.

    ASEM is not just the cooperation process between and among governments, but also aims to increase people to people exchanges.In this regard, business and the AEBF in particular will serve as a driving force for economic cooperation, Khoan said.

    Delivering a keynote speech at the forum, Yu Ping, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that Chinese businesses have a profound interest in communicating with both their Asian and European counterparts in the hope to explore new opportunities for cooperation and development, to seek policy support from governments in the two regions and to create better trade and investment environment.

    The Chinese business circle at present is especially concerned about how and when the barriers and obstacles to trade imposed by the developed countries on the developing countries could be reduced and removed and more trade facilitation is enforced, so that Asia-Europe economic relations would enjoy smoother and healthier development, Yu said.

    He mentioned that before the first ASEM, the trade volume between the two regions accounted for only 19.8 percent of the total European trade with the rest of the world and foreign direct investment (FDI) from Europe to Asia as merely one percent of its total FDI outflow.

    By the time of the fourth ASEM, Asia had become Europe's third largest trading partner and fourth largest FDI recipient.

    With the accession of new European Union members, there is highexpectation from Asian businesses for more trade and investment opportunities with Europe, he added.

    The recommendations of the two-day forum is expected to be submitted to the ASEM summit on their agenda to promote a closer partnership between business cooperation of the two regions. Enditem