Barroso says rise of Asia benefits EU and global economy

DUBAI. KAZINFORM Jose Manuel Barroso who served as president of the European Commission from 2004 to 2014 said here on Sunday the economic rise of Asia has lifted millions of people from poverty and that Europe was responding well to benefit from Asia's economic strength.

Barroso spoke to the media on the first day of the 7th World Economic Forum (WEF) summit on the global agenda and on occasion of the launch of the WEF global outlook for 2015, stressing that the rise of Asia to the world's next economic powerhouse was supporting sustainable growth of the world economy, Xinhua reports.

Asked by Xinhua about the implications for Europe, Barroso replied "Europe is still the biggest economy of the world, bigger than the United States. The trend, however, favours China which is the biggest winner of globalization."

According to the WEF global outlook for 2015 which is based on a survey among global senior and junior decision makers, 25 percent of Asian respondents and 41 percent of American respondents think that China is the world's foremost economic power.

Barroso said that Europe has not missed its chances in Asia " but Europe Union member states reacted well and mostly expanded trade and investment. The EU sealed free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea "and we started FTA negotiations with Japan, and we are close to seal an FTA with Vietnam."

The EU also managed to conclude an investment agreement with China. Global trade has triggered sustainable growth in Asia and lifted millions of Asian people from poverty, therefore EU-Asia trade was benefiting both sides, the former EU commission president said.

The WEF summit on the global agenda will run through Tuesday. The summit is attended by over 1,000 experts, two heads of state, 12 ministers, 400 business executives, and it aims to create main topics of discussion for the annual global WEF summit in Davos- Klosters, Switzerland next year.