HANOI, Oct. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is to hold its fifth summit on Friday and Saturday, and state and government leaders of Asian and European countries will exchange views on international and regional affairs, and discuss economic cooperation and cultural exchanges at the meeting.

    The ASEM 5 is expected to adopt the chairman's statement, a declaration on closer ASEM economic partnership and a declaration on dialogue among cultures and civilizations.

    ASEM, which began its process in 1996 at the initiative of Singapore, constitutes a forum for informal dialogue between the heads of states and governments to exchange their views on important issues agreed upon by all ASEM partners.

    In addition, ASEM aims at bridging differences and promoting understanding between the people of the two continents. ASEM cooperation is based on three key pillars, namely political, economic and socio-cultural pillars in the spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.

    The ASEM holds a summit every two years and the venue alternates between Asia and Europe. Four summit meetings have so far been held.

    The first ASEM summit was held in Bangkok, Thailand in March 1996 and was the first gathering of Asian and European leaders.

    Britain hosted the second summit in London in April 1998, which mainly addressed the unexpected Asian financial storms.

    The third ASEM summit was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea in October 2000, at which the Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework 2000 and the Seoul Declaration on the inter-Korean peace were adopted.

    The fight against international terrorism topped the agenda of the fourth summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 2002, and the Asian and European countries called for dialogue between different cultures and civilizations.

    ASEM was founded by 26 members, including China, Japan, Republic of Korea and seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and 15 European Union (EU) member states, namely, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain, and the European Commission.

    At the ASEM 5, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and 10 new members of the EU, namely, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus, will join the ASEM, adding its total members to 39.

    With the process of cooperation, ASEM countries, accounting for 2.4 billion people and more than half of the total GDP of the world, will play a more important role in international society. Enditem