The 6th ASEM Finance Ministers' Meeting     Time: June 26, 2005 Venue: Renaissance Tianjin TEDA Hotel & Convention Center Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area Administrative Commission The Sixth ASEM FMM was held in Tianjin, China on 26 June 2005. Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony and delivered the opening speech. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Jin Renqing...   Pictures       click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture click for larger picture       Brief Introduction   The Sixth ASEM FMM was held in Tianjin, China on 26 June 2005. Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony and delivered the opening speech. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Jin Renqing, Finance Minister of China, and was attended by the Finance Ministers of 39 ASEM members and senior representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Central Bank. The meeting issued the Chairman's Statement and Tianjin Initiative and decided that the Seventh ASEM FMM will be held in Austria in 2006. At this one-day meeting, Finance Ministers, under the policy theme of "Closer ASEM Economic and Financial Cooperation", discussed issues of global and regional macroeconomic developments, global development agenda, and closer ASEM economic and financial cooperation, and reached broad consensus on many issues. Ministers expressed their optimism on the global and regional economic prospects, and expected global growth to remain robust, although at a more moderate pace, in 2005. They also noted several downside risks to the global and regional economy, such as continued high and volatile oil prices, risks of increasing inflation in some countries, and interest rates increase by major economies. They expressed their serious concerns over the current global economic imbalances and urged all countries concerned to implement appropriate policies to contribute to an orderly global readjustment. Ministers reviewed the progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), noting that the progress toward the MDGs had so far been uneven globally. They reaffirmed their commitments to achieving the MDGs by 2015, and called on the international community to scale up efforts for the MDGs with concrete efforts through increased Official Development Assistance (ODA) by donor countries. Ministers welcomed the recent announcement of a proposal by the G8 Finance Ministers on debt cancellation for HIPCs in London on June 11, 2005, and urged the international community to further step up efforts to support the Enhanced HIPCs Initiative. They, in particular, highlighted the key role of trade in promoting sustained development and reducing world poverty, and the need to strive for an ambitious and balanced outcome of the Doha Development Agenda, which would deliver real benefits to developing countries. Ministers strongly called for a package to be agreed at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2005, to pave the way for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations by 2006. Ministers also recognized that the distribution of the quotas in the IMF among the IMF members should reflect developments in the world economy. Ministers reviewed the progress of the ASEM economic and financial cooperation and adopted Tianjin Initiative on Closer ASEM Economic and Financial Cooperation, which includes the review of the previous performance of ASEM Trust Fund and exploring its future role, the approval of two workshops to strengthen the economic and financial capacity building between Asia and Europe, and the agreement on the 1 establishment of the ASEM Contingency Dialogue Mechanism for Emergent Economic and Financial Events. After the meeting, Ministers were present at the joint press conference, and answered the questions by foreign and domestic journalists. Over 200 delegates and about 300 journalists, as well as the officials from ASEM countries' embassies in China gathered in Tianjin TEDA Hotel & Convention Centre for the meeting. The meeting not only marked the first ASEM FMM after the ASEM enlargement, but also is registered as the ASEM FMM with the largest scale and highest-level participation since its inception. Other Information Greeting from the Minister of Finance of China download ASEM-FMM passes Chairman's Statement download ASEM-FMM passes Tianjin Initiative download