Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern

Prime Minister

MP for Mt Albert
17 October 2018 MEDIA STATEMENT

Dame Annette King to attend Asia Europe Meeting Summit

The Honourable Dame Annette King will attend the 12th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Leaders’ Summit as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy in Brussels this week (18-19 October).

“New Zealand is proud to be one of 53 members represented at the ASEM Summit,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Dame Annette will engage with European and Asian countries on important regional and multilateral issues relevant to New Zealand’s peace and prosperity.”

ASEM was formed in 1996 to deepen the relations between Asia and Europe. New Zealand joined in 2010, and has been represented at every biennial Summit meeting since then either by a senior Minister, or Special Envoy.

“New Zealand strongly supports effective multilateralism, and ASEM is an important component of the rules based international system with political influence on discussions of climate change, engagement on the WTO and international trade, security issues including North Korea and Iran, connectivity developments between Asia and Europe, and counter-terrorism,” Jacinda Ardern said.

Dame Annette will also meet with members of the European Parliament, including in support of New Zealand’s continuing free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union.

ASEM’s membership includes 51 European and Asian nations, as well as the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEM countries generate nearly 60 per cent of global GDP and are home to around 60 per cent of its population.

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