Participants
Each ASEM member country is represented by three participants, which means that there will be at maximum 135 country delegates at Model ASEM. This framework for the Model ASEM aims to represent every country in every one of the three pillars. Participant can also choose to play a role of a journalist, that is, a media representative whose role it s to report on the conference proceedings in the form of a conference newspaper. Participants should therefore first decide which ASEM country they want to represent during the summit (or to represent media), and then decide on which pillar they want to concentrate, that is, on political pillar, economic pillar, or cultural pillar.
You can have a look at the Closed Session discussions under Resources in order to get a better view of what kind of issues are discussed under each pillar. Organizers then form delegations for each country, choosing also one of the delegates to be head of the delegation. A group of three friends can also form one (3 person) delegation for one country, which in that case should be mentioned in the application form. It should be noted that it is very useful to communicate and have pre-summit online briefings and discussions with your fellow delegates before the actual Model ASEM.
| Political Pillar | Economic Pillar | Cultural Pillar | Total | |
| European Union (27 countries) | 27 |
27 |
27 |
81 |
| ASEAN + 3 + 3 (16 countries) | 16 |
16 |
16 |
48 |
| European Commission (1) | 1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| ASEAN Secretariat (1) | 1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Total | 135 |
European Union (27 countries)
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
ASEAN + 3 + 3 (16 countries)
Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
European Commission
ASEAN Secretariat
Representative of Media
Note that you cannot choose to represent your own country, ie. your country of origin. Following from this, participants have a possibility to gain a deeper understanding of different countries policies.
Before the simulation each participant is responsible for completing an information package consisting of: (a) the country's official opinion of the topics to be discussed during the conference, (b) the general information about the country they are representing, and (c) the country's relation to ASEM and the political process (around 1000 words) (see Research Guidelines under Resources). Each country's information package will be uploaded on a common website so that participants can take advantage of this information and learn about different countries and their viewpoints. This also gives the participants the opportunity to start informal discussions before the meeting and be better prepared for the summit. As mentioned before, ASEM is a forum for dialogue among equals, no matter the size of the country or it political power. This will be very important during the summit which means that the chair has to take an active role making sure that all countries are given the opportunity to express their views and also give sufficient time for informal intervals and retreat sessions where the participants can discuss the topics.
The official duration of the Model ASEM is three days. The chair holding the opening address will open the model summit . The opening address will express the objectives and goals of the summit. After the opening address each country will give their opening statements (see Opening Statements under Resources). Thus, before the simulation each delegation is also responsible for writing an opening statement of the country they will represent during the simulation. To keep the meeting informal and based on dialogue it is important, even though, with respect to the number of participants and the time frame, some restrictions have to be made according to speaker's time . One speaker after another will deliver their speech after having been given the word by the chair. During the opening statement the speakers have to set to the time limit and there will be no cross talking or interruptions. The forehand chosen topics will be generally discussed during the sessions where all the country delegates will have the opportunity to address their standpoints and stress out what is considered to be the most important issues. After each country giving their opening statement, the meeting will move on to a more "informal" debate where the participants can discuss the topics in a more dialogue matter. This more informal structure put high demands on the chair to make sure that the principle of equal partnership and dialogue is being upheld.