Regional trade focused by Asia-Europe Business Forum

More inter-regional investment is the main focus of the 13th Asia- Europe Business Forum, which is on its second day here on Monday, as leaders focus on increasing trade to bolster the debt crisis in Europe, an official said.

The 13th Asia- Europe Business Forum is taking place on the sidelines of the 9th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM). Around 370 delegates arrived in Laos for the business forum, which is focusing on increasing investment and trade between the two influential regions.

"There have been complex changes in the world during the past few years that have had serious impact on the global economy. There is a greater need that ever before to work together for the benefit of everyone," Laos' Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong told the forum.

European and Asian leaders are also expected to put Europe's debt crisis at the top of the ASEM agenda with France President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti as well as Australian Premier Julia Gillard expected to highlight global economic issues.

"There is a doubt in Asia about Europe's capacity to be a zone of stability and growth," Hollande was reported to have told journalists aboard his flight to Laos.

He said the main aim of his first trip to Asia since taking office in May was to convince Asian leaders that "Europe is still an economic power."

The summit comes days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of five global financial organizations warned that the recovery of the global economy is on a" fragile track" and warned that recovery could take as much as another five years.

However in the first half of 2012, European exports to its 19 Asian ASEM partners rose by 12.8 percent in comparison with the first half of 2011, from 226 billion euros (290.2 billion U.S. dollars) to 255 billion euros. Their imports from the Asian members also increased by 1.6 percent, from 373 billion euros to 379 billion euros.