The Indo-Pacific has become the centre stage of a shifting global balance of power, with far-reaching implications for the European and global economy and security. Rising to this challenge, the EU has a produced a strategy for the Indo-Pacific and NATO has adjusted its strategic approach to the region. Yet, with burning security concerns at its doorstep, many questions about Europe’s role and effective engagement in the Indo-Pacific remain. How to respond to Sino-American competition while promoting its own interests in the region? What are the best channels, partners and cooperative structures to engage with? How can the EU comprehensively leverage its economic, technological and diplomatic clout? And how do Indo-Pacific countries respond to Europe’s growing regional ambitions?
The Brussels Indo-Pacific Forum* aims to provide a unique platform for experts and policymakers to discuss Europe’s role in the Indo-Pacific and bring the Indo-Pacific security debate to the European capital. In light of the evolving debate inside and outside Europe, the inaugural edition of the Forum will put the spotlight on the EU’s tightening relations with like-minded regional partners, explore the trends and possible contribution to the security and defence, and delve into the prospects for technological and economic cooperation.
The Forum is convened by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG), which has established itself as a leading reference for informing academic and policy debates on the Indo-Pacific in Brussels through its Korea Chair and Japan Chair. In this year’s edition of the Forum, CSDS will partner with the European Union (EU) on the basis of the Indo-Pacific Futures Platform (INFORM), a two-year project supported by the EU that seeks to develop a common reflection on future challenges impacting the region. Its main deliverable is the publication of two studies on security and digitalisation trends respectively in the Indo-Pacific. The discussions to be held at the Forum will feed into the reports, which will be published at the end of the year. Furthermore, CSDS will use the opportunity to announce the establishment of a Japan Chair, bearing witness to the significant political, economic and strategic rapprochement between the two like-minded partners and setting the scene for closer and more substantive cooperation in the years to come.
Download the final programme here.
PROGRAMME (29 November 2022)
09:30 – 9:45 Welcome and Registration
9:45 – 09:50 Welcome remarks
- Luis Simón, Director, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)
9:50 – 10:00 Opening remarks
- Karel de Gucht, President of the Brussels School of Governance, VUB
- Makita Shimokawa, Ambassador of Japan to Belgium and NATO
10:00 – 10:20 Keynote address - Europe and the Indo-Pacific
- Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative for the Union’s Foreign and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission
10:20 – 10:45 Coffee break
10.45 – 12.15 Public Panel - Striking the Balance: Sino-American Competition, Rule of Law and the Future of Global Order
Moderator
- Stuart Lau, EU – China Correspondent, POLITICO
Speakers
- David Helvey, Deputy Defense Advisor, US Mission to NATO
- Saori N. Katada, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Southern California
- Caroline Millar, Ambassador of Australia to the EU, NATO, Belgium and Luxembourg
- Richard Tibbels, EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific, European External Action Service
12.15 - 13.30 Networking lunch
13:30 – 15:00 INFORM Public Panel – Security and Defence Trends in the Indo-Pacific by 2030
Moderator
- Daniel Fiott, Head of the Defence and Statecraft Programme, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)
Speakers
- Yuichi Hosoya, Professor of International Politics, Keio University
- Céline Pajon, Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, CSDS and Head of Japan Research, IFRI (French Institute of International Relations)
- Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo- Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA)
- Emmanuel Puig, Security and Defence partnerships, cooperation with the Indo-Pacific and Task Force NATO Division, European External Action Service (EEAS)
- Yoon Soongu, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Belgium and the European Union / Head of Mission to NATO
15:00 – 15:15 Coffee break
15.15 - 16.45 INFORM Public Panel – Digital partnerships, technology & supply chains by 2030
Moderator
- Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF–VUB Korea Chair, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)
Speakers
- Choi Yoon Jung, Director of the Indo-Pacific Studies Center, Sejong Institute
- Raluca Csernatoni, Research Fellow, Carnegie Europe
- María Martín-Prat de Abreu, Deputy Director-General, DG TRADE, European Commission
- Karthik Nachiappan, Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University Singapore (NUS)
16:45 – 17:15 Closing Keynote – Economic statecraft, Great Power Competition and Indo-Pacific order
- Roberto Viola, Director General, DG CONNECT, European Commission
17:15 – 17:30 Break
17:30 – 17:45 Japan Chair Launch
- Luis Simón, Director, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)
- Eva Pejsova, Japan Chair, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)
17:45 – 19:00 Cocktail reception
(*) This event is held in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Belgium.
(*) Registrations are no longer accepted as room capacity has reached its maximum. We thank you for your interest and warm welcome of the first edition of the Brussels Indo Pacific Forum.