Asian perceptions of Europe in focus

The European Union and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) will launch a book called How the European Union is Perceived in Asia at the Le Meridien Hotel in Jakarta, on Friday.

The book launch will feature a seminar presenting Sayakane Sisouvong, the ASEF governor for the ASEAN Secretariat and the deputy secretary-general for the ASEAN Political-Security Community, Julian Wilson, the head of the delegation of the European Union to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, and Martin Holland, the director of the National Center for Research on Europe at the University of Canterbury.

At the same event, the ASEF will also launch its publication The EU through the Eyes of Asia, Volume II: "New Cases, New Findings".

Asia and Europe have become increasingly interconnected over the last few decades, largely because of their economic, political, cultural and historical ties to one another, Martin Holland says in a press release previewing his presentation.

The EU comprises 27 countries, and has a total population of nearly half a billion.

Besides the launch in Jakarta, the books will also be launched in Manila and Hanoi. - JP