MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Asia-Europe concert efforts for coming financial summit

Asian and European leaders

Asian and European leaders called for a concerted effort to weather a financial crisis that originated from the United States and has now spread globally as the 7th Asia-Europe meeting opened on Friday.

The meeting in Beijing is attended by 43 heads of state ~ including new members India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Rumania plus the Asean Secretariat and the European Council. French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Asian leaders to support Europe's efforts in addressing the crisis at the global financial summit in Washington on 15 November. "We (Europe and Asia) have to make sure that we will face the world together (in the summit)," Mr Sarkozy said in his speech at the ASEM opening at Beijing's Great Hall of the People. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. "The causes of this crisis should not be allowed to happen again. It is imperative that we develop a common response," Sarkozy said. The United States, which is convening the 15 November summit of world leaders, is the only superpower not represented in the ASEM. Mr Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei, speaking on behalf the Association of South-East Asian Nations, said the economic integration of the 10-country grouping is beset amid the financial crisis, makes it even more imperative for markets like Europe to support it in terms of access and investments. European Commission president, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, meanwhile, warned against protectionism as a means for countries to protect themselves from the global meltdown. "We have benefited from globalisation. Openness and interdependence are two kinds of globalisation," Mr Barroso said. "We cannot meet the challenges by closing the door in order to look after our own house."