Apart from the Summit meetings, the ASEM process is carried forward through a series of Ministerial and working-level meetings and their activity offshoots.

ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting
ASEM Foreign Ministers met in Singapore in February 1997, and in Berlin, Germany in March 1999. The last meeting was held in Beijing, China on 24-25 May 2001. Reporting to Foreign Ministers, a Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) is held normally twice a year. The last SOM took place in Bali, Indonesia on 23-24 July 2003.

ASEM Finance Ministers Meeting
ASEM Finance Ministers met in Bangkok, Thailand in September 1997, and in Frankfurt, Germany in January 1999. The last meeting took place in Kobe, Japan in January 2001. ASEM core finance groups meet in between the Ministerial Meeting on the margins of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund spring and autumn meetings.

ASEM Economic Ministers Meeting
ASEM Economic Ministers met in Makuhari, Japan in October 1997, in Berlin, Germany in October 1999; and in Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2001. Reporting to Economic Ministers, a senior officials' meeting on trade and investment (SOMTI) is held normally twice a year. The Ninth SOMTI was held in Paris in June 2003.

Asia-Europe Business Forum
Also in the economic field, an annual Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF) has brought together private-sector representatives from the two regions. The first AEBF meeting was held in Paris, France in October 1996, with subsequent meetings in Bangkok, Thailand (1997), London, United Kingdom (1998), Seoul, South Korea (1999), Vienna, Austria (2000), Singapore (2001) and Copenhagen, Denmark on 18-20 September 2002 (back to back with the ASEM 4 Summit).

Ad-hoc ministerial meetings
A Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology was held in Beijing, China in October 1999. Another ad hoc ministerial meeting of Ministers of the Environment was held in Beijing, China on January 2002. An ASEM Ministerial Conference on Co-operation for the Management of Migatory Flows between Europe and Asia, which adopted a Declaration was held in Lanzarote, Spain in April 2002.

In addition to these "core" meetings, a series of expert-level working groups has been established, including:

• Thematic meetings on trade issues such as standards, customs, IPR, SPS, government procurement, e-commerce etc, in the context of the Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP);
• Regular meetings of an Investment Experts' Group (IEG) in the context of the Investment Promotion Action Plan (IPAP) and back to back with SOMTI, discussing both investment policy and investment promotion issues. One of the key activitoies under IPAP is the establishment of the Virtual Information Exchange (VIE) website, providing easily accessible information for the business community regarding investment rules, policies and promotional measures;
• In the social and cultural field, a number of meetings on issues as diverse as child welfare, cultural heritage, "young leaders" symposia, young parliamentarians meeting; and
• A range of cultural and intellectual "networking" events.