Senior officials end preparations for upcoming ASEAN and related summits

Senior officials wrapped up preparatory meetings Thursday for the 11th ASEAN Summit and related summits as well as the inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS), taking ASEAN and its dialogue partners a step closer to realizing greater cooperation in various fields.

With some fine-tuning left to be done in some areas, officials from ASEAN's 10 member countries, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and those from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea have almost finalised the agenda for the summits.

Ministers would take a look before coming up with the final agenda prior to the summits, scheduled for Dec. 12 to 14 in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The topics on the table for greater cooperation among ASEAN, ASEAN+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea), and the EAS (ASEAN+3 plus India, Australia and New Zealand) include terrorism, avian flu, HIV/AIDs, the environment and the economy, said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

He told a press conference here that the meetings have been conducted "in a spirit of cooperation" and "the discussions have been very substantive."

"We want to move toward a brighter, more peaceful and prosperous future in line with the summit's theme of one vision, one identity, one community," he said.

Officials are still working on the finer points of several subjects, including free trade agreements (FTAs) which are to be signed by ASEAN with India and South Korea.

"Discussions have not yet yielded the desired outcome but they are ongoing," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said of the Asean-India FTA.

Thailand Thursday reiterated its stance that it will not back the ASEAN-South Korea FTA if rice is not included for tariff cuts in the agreement.

The officials have prepared more than 20 documents that are expected to be endorsed by the leaders.

These include several documents to be inked between Russia and ASEAN, which would enable both sides to tap the full potential of their relations. Russia has been ASEAN's dialogue partner since 1996.

Additionally, the ASEAN Charter now being drawn up will enable the 10-member grouping to raise its own funds to finance regional projects instead of having to depend on its dialogue partners for capital.

Diplomats have described the Malaysian-mooted ASEAN charter as crucial because it will give ASEAN a legal identity.

Source: Xinhua