Representatives of both Asia and Europe have decided to keep the United Nation's target of halving world poverty by 2015 for their respective countries, despite challenges presented by the global financial crisis.

At a press briefing after the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Development Conference held in Manila, Koos Richelle, Director General of the European Commission's EuropeAid Cooperation Office said that while there was relatively slow progress in meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) in the region, moving the targets would be unwise at this time.

"The targets are hard to reach and are big challenges. Not one country is on track with all aspects of MDGs. But that's what this conference was for: To keep stock of how countries were doing in terms of meeting those goals," Richelle said

Thirteen Asian countries, 16 European countries, the European Comission, eight international organizations and 10 civil society organizations attended the two-day conference.

Of these 13 countries, Richelle said 5 to 7 were having more difficulty than the rest in following through with the MDG goals.

"Thanks to efforts from India and China, development has progressed significantly in the region. But this has not spread to the whole of Asia," he noted.

Richelle declined to name the countries, but according to a background study submitted for the 2009 ASEM entitled, "Development Challenges and Opportunities," cited as lagging behind other countries in fulfilling several aspects of the MDGs are Cambodia, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Myanmar Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Philippines, in particular, was cited for lagging in the goals of halving the number of people living under $1 a day, improving quality of teaching and learning conditions, and improving access to health services.

Rolando Tungpalan, Deputy Director General for the National Economic Development Authority admitted that there was much to improve in the areas cited, but he maintains the government is committed to keeping the country on track to meet its MDG goals by 2015.

Richelle added there are currently 3 factors the ASEM is watching out for in achieving the MDG goals: Volatility in the prices of commodities, slowdown in remittance volumes as the crisis affect job prospects of migrant labor, and the amount of money available for official development assistance.

He stressed, however, that Europe remains committed to following through with its promise to pursue its Development Assistance target, which was set at 0.7 percent of the region's gross national income by 2015.

"There has been no signal so far that Europe will not keep its commitment to aid," he said.

The ASEM will hold a follow-up conference in the ASEM-8 Summit in Brussels, October 2010.