The 13th Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF-13) kicked off in the Lao capital of Vientiane on Sunday, with participation of around 250 business leaders across the two regions to further promote economic and business cooperation in sustainable ways.

Themed "Caring for the Earth for sustainable economic and business in Asia and Europe," the three-day meeting runs back to back with the ninth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit, slated for Nov. 5-6, so that the results of the business forum can be communicated directly to the political leaders, according to the organizer.

Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavongeng said in the opening remarks that the meeting came at a time when the global environment was undergoing complex challenges and posing direct impact to the livelihood of people.

"I hope that the meeting will provide a great opportunity for us to exchange experience and lessons learnt in view of finding proper solutions to cushion the impact," he said.

He believed that the results of the forum will form a strong basis for fostering closer ties and cooperation between Asian and European business sectors so as to bring about mutual benefits to the people of the two regions.

The forum attracts some 250 prominent CEOs from Europe and Asia as well as trade commissioners and heads of business chambers. They will discuss topics of common interest across the two regions, including the future direction of Asia-Europe economic and business relations and their cooperative answers to the financial and economic crisis.

Some of the highlighted topics center on the environmental challenges posed by the economic development and the management of natural resources.

Nam Viyaketh, Lao Minister of Industry and Commerce, spoke highly of the role of emerging markets in boosting global economy over the past decade.

"Today, we are witnessing a change in the world trade architecture. One of the dominant features of this change is the emergence of growth markets. Those countries are China, India, Russia, ASEAN countries and countries in East Europe," he said.

As an important pillar of the global growth, the two region's growth markets should capitalize on their potentials and build stronger linkages among them, in order to increase their effective contribution to the trade between Asia and Europe, added the minister.

Meanwhile, he noted that with an 8 percent average GDP growth for many years, Laos' recent accession to the WTO will pave the way for further trade opportunities.

The AEBF is a meeting of business leaders in Asia and Europe, created by the first ASEM Summit to strengthen economic cooperation between the business sectors of the two regions. It was first convened in Paris in 1996 and has since been held annually in Europe and Asia in turn.

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