The two-day meaningful Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED), the first of its kind, concluded in Singapore Wednesday with a general consensus reached by the participants on issues ranging from economy to security.  

Commenting on the dialogue, which was attended by over 200 delegates from about 40 countries and regions in Asia and the Middle East, Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said that it is a promising start to greater understanding between the two regions.

Under the theme of "Common Interests and Common Challenges", the meeting expected to achieve four objectives as stated by Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, the advocator of the dialogue, in his keynote speech at the official opening on Tuesday morning.

Goh said he hoped that the inaugural AMED meeting can help enhance mutual awareness and understanding between the two regions, erase negative stereotypes, share experience in political, economic and social development, as well as come up with ideas for tangible and concrete collaboration for mutual benefit.

After frankly exchanging their views on issues such as political reforms, anti-terrorism, global energy security, economic partnerships, as well as tradition and modernity, participants agreed that it is the very time for the two regions to rediscover each other and rebuild partnerships between them for the existed history of dense cultural and economic links between them.

Many noted that viewing each other only through the negative reporting by western media is harmful for both the regions because it has formed incorrect images about one another in people's minds and caused lack of awareness and operational knowledge of each other.

On the issue of political reforms in the countries of the two regions, many participants emphasized that the form of democracy in a particular country depends on its history and circumstances. There is no single, perfect model that all countries should follow without modification, but many successful examples for different nations to consider and learn from.

As for international terrorism, Prince Torki bin Muhammad bin Saud al-Kabir of Saudi Arabia stressed that "terrorism should not be linked to any religion, ethnic background or geographical location," and it is against every value and principle of Islam.

Taking the borderless and transnational nature of terrorism threat into consideration, the participants agreed that it is impossible for any nation to adopt a purely national approach to win the war alone, and more importantly, the military approach should not be the only solution to terrorism.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Seri Syed Hamid Albar urged the AMED to adopt a multilateral approach to countering international terrorism and complementing other regional efforts, which was echoed by fellow delegates who proposed to set up a terrorism sub-group within the AMED structure.

The economic cooperation between Asia and the Middle East was another topic during the AMED.

Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang stressed the need for the two regions to deepen their economic engagement and shape effective partnerships, saying that economies in both regions have experienced exceptional growth, which presents a lot of opportunities to each other.

The participants expressed their recognition that there is great potential for the two regions to re-build cultural and economic linkages as well as regain long lasting trust and cooperation, which is of their mutual interest.

They hoped that useful dialogue to explore the possible models of economic cooperation in building win-win partnerships would continue, and suggested a Working Group on Closer Economic Partnership be set up as soon as possible.

They also exchanged views on social, educational, scientific, cultural and media issues at the meeting, while they particularly stressed the significance of education for political, economic and social development of a country.

Echoing Jordanian King al-Hussein bin Abdullah II's description of education as "the necessary engine of change," Singapore's Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that education is "the bedrock for human development and the means for whole societies to realize their potential."

He urged the two regions to provide educational bridges to young people so that they could build up trust among them for the future, which he believed, is what makes economic and business relationship last.

As far as human resource development is concerned, the participants agreed that there is great scope of cooperation for the two regions to address common challenges such as expanding access to education for all levels of society and improving the employability of young workers.

On the relationship between tradition and modernity, many viewed the two as a continuum, instead of something incompatible. They believed that it is possible to acquire modernity without sacrificing tradition.

They also agreed that modernization cannot be equated with westernization, arguing that the western notion of modernity is just one aspect of modernity though a proliferation of ideas and innovations from the West does exist in recent years.

"We need to respect our differences and, at the same time, recognize that we share the same aspiration for peace and prosperity," Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon noted.

As regions that are of increasing importance in the global political compass and trade system, Asia and the Middle East need to share opportunities and meet challenges through common efforts and enhanced cooperation.

As proposed by Ma Zhengang, president of China Institute of International Studies, the two regions should respect and support one another politically, conduct practical economic cooperation for mutual benefit and for win-win results, learn from each other culturally for common progress, as well as conduct dialogue and consultation on security issues based on equality and mutual trust.

Recommendations and outcomes of the meeting are expected to be followed up by three open-ended working groups, which have been established by the Steering Committee of the AMED, according to Tommy Koh, chairman of the first AMED and ambassador-at-large of Singapore.

The AMED will be held once every two years with the venue alternating between Asia and the Middle East. Egypt, Thailand and Saudi Arabia have offered to host the next three dialogues respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2005)