New bilateral agreements mark the beginning of Asian and European education ministers’ meeting

With ASEM Education Collaboration for Results as the overarching theme, the ministerial meeting has started with tangible outcomes from this strengthened cooperation between the two regions. New bilateral agreements have already been signed between China and Estonia, and between China and Lithuania, and more agreements will be signed later. Both in size and geographic scale, this is the largest ministerial meeting Latvia has ever hosted in the field of education. At the end of the two-day meeting, the Ministers will adopt the Chair’s Conclusions, thus setting the priorities for the next working cycle. Latvia will hand these over to the Republic of Korea which will host the 6th ministerial meeting in 2017.

The meeting was opened by the President of the Republic of Latvia, Mr Andris Bērziņš, and the Latvian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Edgars Rinkēvičs.

“Education has always been an impetus for sustainable development, especially nowadays when it is easier and easier for people to travel with their intellectual knowledge. To use the full potential of this new Silk Road in education, skills development and information and communication technologies have to be incorporated into our work programme,” said the Chair of the meeting, the Latvian Minister for Education and Science, Ms Mārīte Seile.

Founded in 1996, ASEM (or the Asia–Europe Meeting) has proven to be the key platform for informal dialogue and collaboration between Asia and Europe. It is a powerful strategic framework for international cooperation and joint development. In total, 50% of global GDP is generated by the 51 ASEM members, and 60% of the global population lives in the two regions. The ASEM Education Process was launched in 2008 and is currently focused on four key working areas: quality assurance and recognition; engaging business and industry in education; balanced mobility; and lifelong learning in technical and vocational education and training.

With several ASEM-related events taking place one after another, the end of April marks an ASEM week in Riga. On 29 April, following the ASEMME5 Education Ministers’ Meeting, the Erasmus+ Information Day will take place at the University of Latvia. Over this same period, the 3rd ASEM Transport Ministers’ Meeting (ASEMTM3) organised by the Latvian Ministry of Transport will take place on 29-30 April.

Note to the editor:

On 27 April media are welcome to attend the ministerial doorstep interviews, tour-de-table, the opening of the meeting, and the welcome and introductory speeches (video and photo opportunities). Please note that only accredited media can attend the event. Information on media accreditation is available on the Presidency website. For any questions regarding media accreditation or the work of the Media Centre, please contact Ms Karina Leja via e-mail: karina.leja@es2015.lv or by calling: +371 26058258.

On 28 April the press conference will take place at 10:45 in the Baltija Hall with the Latvian Minister for Education and Science, the host of the previous ministerial meeting — the Malaysian Minister for Education, Mr Jusoh Idris – and the host of the upcoming meeting in 2017, the Korean Minister for Education, Mr Hwang Woo-yea.

After the press conference, at 11:30, media are invited to join a guided tour of the Powered by Education exhibition, which features 12 Latvian success stories about ambitious people and their achievements that were inspired by the Latvian education system.