What We Do Together, We Do Better
SEOUL, July 20, 2010 - Asia Society Korea Center hosted its monthly luncheon lecture with H.E. Pierre Clement Dubuisson, Belgian Ambassador to Korea, here at the Lotte Hotel. The professional bassoonist turned diplomat gave an insightful speech entitled “Belgian EU Presidency and ASEM 8 – What We Do Together, We Do Better.”
Speaking to Asia Society Korea Center members, His Excellency stated that he thought highly of Korea’s sound reaction to the recent financial crisis and was not only pleased but astonished to watch Korea’s decisive role as a donor country in the international community, having once been a donor recipient. He mentioned the role that Belgium plays currently holding the EU Presidency and host of the next ASEM 8 meeting.
The multilingual ambassador described what agenda items will be focused on at that summit, which will be held in October 2010 in Brussels and pointed out that the ASEM 8 Summit will initially discuss how to exit the current economic downturn and help effectively put the global economy back on track. Participants will also debate how to take concrete steps to fight the financial crisis and achieve sustainable development. Moreover, they will intensively talk about environmental issues such as climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy.
The veteran emissary emphasized that social cohesion is absolutely essential in a multi-cultural society. He added that he recently read an interesting research paper from Samsung Economic Research Institute that raised the question, “How Advanced is Korea?” According to this paper, in order to advance, a standard of advancement should be established by national consensus, and then grasped.
Lastly, Dubuisson noted that the ASEM 8 Summit will make an issue of the extension of the European Union and strong partnership between European countries and Asian Countries. He said that leaders around the world are now paying attention to the G20 Seoul Summit, slated to happen on November 11 and 12 of 2010.