KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that the European nations should send more students to study in Asia in a bid to help promote cultural understanding and international co-operation, local media reported on Wednesday.

    It is the norm for Asia to send its young people to study in Europe, but not the other way around, he said.

    "In the East, we have been sending students to Europe but we seldom see Europeans coming to study here," he said in his opening speech at the third ASEM Culture Ministers Meeting (CMM) here on Tuesday.

    The ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), established in 1996, is an inter-regional forum that promotes respect for cultural diversity while targeting inter-regional co-operation and community building.

    Cultural exchange programs should include all layers of society, but it was his personal opinion that emphasis should be given to the youth, who possess "idealism, enthusiasm and are very creative as well", the New Straits Times quoted Badawi as saying.

    He told the delegates from over 30 countries, at the meeting themed "Cultural Diversity: Realizing the Action Plan", that it was up to them to take the lead in their respective countries to establish a higher degree of understanding and trust amongst themselves.

    Malaysia had a good mix of different nationalities in its higher learning institutions from countries such as Africa, India, Japan and South Korea, he added. 

 

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