The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an Asian–European political dialogue forum to enhance relations and various forms of cooperation between its partners.

It was officially established on 1 March 1996 at the 1st ASEM Summit (ASEM1) in Bangkok, Thailand, by the then 15 Member States of the European Union (EU) and the European Commission, the then 7 Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the individual countries of China, Japan, and South Korea.

[2] A series of enlargements saw additional EU Member States join as well as India, Mongolia, Pakistan and the ASEAN Secretariat in 2008[citation needed], Australia, New Zealand and Russia in 2010,[3] Bangladesh, Norway, and Switzerland in 2012,[4] as well as Croatia, and Kazakhstan in 2014.

The countries are Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam while the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat are the regional organisations involved.

[1] Biennial Summits are held alternating between Asia and Europe, attended by the Heads of State and Government of the respective partner countries and organisations: Aside from Summits, regular Ministerial Meetings are held on foreign affairs, financial, cultural, economic, educational, labor and employment, transport, or environmental issues, attended by the relevant ministers: