Asian and European leaders holding a summit in Laos signaled Tuesday the need for stronger economic and financial cooperation between the two regions, recognizing uncertainties and downside risks for their countries as Europe battles to resolve its debt crisis.
In the chairman's statement adopted at the end of a two-day summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting, leaders encouraged sharing their experiences from implementing regional crisis management arrangements, including the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's permanent rescue fund.
The leaders and their deputies from 49 countries and two regional organizations also committed to refraining from putting up new barriers to investment or trade, while rolling back protectionist measures introduced in recent years.