Asia Europe forum calls for closer cooperation in research and innovation
The Asia Europe business forum (AEBF) has recently published its latest set of recommendations of actions which it would like to see adopted by the official Asia Europe meeting (ASEM) process. The European Commission along with several partners from ASEM have provided responses to these recommendations, which include closer cooperation in the fields of research, SMEs, information technology and innovation. AEBF recommends that cooperation in the area of R&D (research and development), and particularly in the field of life sciences and the health care industry should be encouraged, a recommendation which the Commission fully supports. Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan all point out that they are both strengthening their national efforts in these areas and increasing their international cooperation. AEBF also recommends that ASEM identify sectors in which testing centres in Asia and Europe could carry out tests in accordance with the standards required by the other party. The proposal is supported by the European Commission, which recommends stricter cooperation between the European Accreditation (EA) and the Asia Pacific Partner (APLAC). In response, Brunei Darussalam points out that this is already present to an extent, but that a complete listing of the sectors and scope of testing covered by the agreements between APLAC and EA in one document would be beneficial. Vietnam suggests mutual recognition of the International laboratory accreditation cooperation (ILAC) as a solution. Another area addressed by the AEBF is the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), which the Commission emphasises as being of high importance on account of worrying piracy rates in several Asian countries. Malaysia responded by saying that 'adequate intellectual protection is crucial for creativity, innovation, technology transfer and a conducive investment climate'. Malaysia stresses however that the protection of IPRs must not disadvantage developing countries. In response the AEBF's recommendation that SMEs should have better access to government financing schemes, the European Commission draws attention to its Asia Invest programme, which provides financial support to facilitate mutually beneficial business cooperation between companies from the EU and Asia. Replying to the recommendation, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines were all eager to point out that they are expanding credit guarantee to the benefit of SMEs. The AEBF document also proposes training programmes, to be arranged by incubation centres. Such programmes would address managerial and technological skills. In information technology, the AEBF states that 'Asian and European governments and businesses should proactively work together to develop a set of internationally applicable rules in the fields of data protection and consumer privacy, billing and taxation of electronic transactions and dispute resolution in transnational electronic commerce. To this, the Commission responded with reference to its Lisbon declaration on the enhancement of the knowledge based society in Europe, saying that this strategy emphasises that 'investing in skills is at the core of the European agenda.' Whilst supporting the recommendation, Vietnam emphasises that Europe and the more advanced ASEM partners should provide support and consultancy for developing countries in formulating a legal framework for e-commerce, providing experience in the development of e-commerce and developing human resources with a view to ensuring a full scale implementation of e-commerce.