Liberal parliamentarians and party leaders from Asia and Europe convened for a two-day meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels on November 10 and 11, 2004 and affirmed their shared commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and tolerance of diversity.

The two-day high level conference was hosted by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and sponsored by the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation. ALDE is the third largest political force in the European Parliament.

Nearly 40 Asian parliamentarians and party leaders associated with the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) joined their European colleagues for discussions on recent political, economic and social trends in Asia and Europe. They also tackled issues related to globalization such as terrorism and international crime, population and migration as well as free trade and environment. Furthermore, the delegates from Asia and Europe engaged in discussions regarding multilateral cooperation between the two continents, and more specifically the possibilities of enhancing inter parliamentary and party to party cooperation and international human rights promotion.

lition of democratic countries, initiated in 1999 with the common goal of strengthening democratic institutions and values on national, regional and global levels. For the first time, non-governmental organizations have been invited to join this political process of the governments. The regional meeting in Taipei aimed at coming up with coor