Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Benedetto Della Vedova is in Luxembourg today representing the Italian government at the 12th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting, chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
“Working together for a sustainable and secure future” is the theme of the summit, which follows upon the 10th ASEM Summit in Milan in 2014. Della Vedova spoke during the session entitled “Climate change, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management”. In his speech, he underscored Italy’s commitment to the struggle against climate change, not least in view of the Paris COP 21, one of the testing grounds for European and Asian capacities to agree on common solutions to global challenges such as the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
Stressing how inequalities are among the deep underlying causes of current crises, such as migration, Della Vedova also said that “the migration phenomenon is a global phenomenon that must be managed in a unified manner. This is a long-term challenge that cannot be confronted solely with short-term measures”. He also recalled Italy’s continuing involvement both in operations to address the emergency, and through diplomatic efforts such as the Khartoum Process and the upcoming La Valletta Summit aimed at fighting the causes of the phenomenon. Another theme concerned the growing connection between Europe and Asia, along with geopolitical stability and security, as a basis for ensuring the sustainable economic growth of the two regions.
Just a few days ago, the Under-Secretary chaired the sessions of a seminar held in Rome at the Farnesina on the theme “Financing SMEs in Asia and Europe”, whose results were a valuable addition to today’s debate.