ĦĦĦĦBANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei, July 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Senior officials from
Southeast Asian nations discussed terrorism, economic recovery and regional
security matters at a two-day closed-day gathering ending Saturday in the
capital of Brunei.
ĦĦĦĦTerrorism was the main topic of the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held in
preparation for an annual foreign ministers' meet of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday and Tuesday, delegates told reporters.
ĦĦĦĦASEAN officials have expressed their desire to correct the misconceptions
that the region is a hotbed for terrorist activities, they said, adding the
ASEAN will sign a declaration with the United States for closer cooperation in
the war against international terrorism.
ĦĦĦĦOther topics included regional security issues like tensions onthe Korean
Peninsula and the much-needed economic reforms to accelerate the region's
recovery five years after the disastrous Asian financial crisis.
ĦĦĦĦAnti-terrorism, security matters and economic recovery are alsoexpected to
take the center stage at the 35th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) as well as the
ensuing 9th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Post
Ministerial Conferences (PMC) on Thursday.
ĦĦĦĦAlso on Saturday, the ASEAN Standing Committee ended a two-day meeting
after discussions of non-political issues such as the Initiative for ASEAN
Integration (IAI) work plan.
ĦĦĦĦIn a closing statement, Brunei Foreign Affairs Minister MohamedBolkiah
expressed the hope that ASEAN foreign ministers will adoptthe IAI work plan to
facilitate the regional integration process.
ĦĦĦĦThe 10-nation ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ĦĦĦĦThe ASEAN Regional Forum, a loose consultative security forum in the
Asia-Pacific, groups the 10 ASEAN member states, their 10 dialogue partners
including the European Union, the United States and China, and some other
countries.
ĦĦĦĦThe PMC are meetings between the ASEAN nations and their dialogue partners
on international political and economic issues.
ĦĦĦĦIn another development, the ASEAN and China are expected to finalize the
preliminary setting of the proposed ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (FTA) in
September.
ĦĦĦĦASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino, Jr. was quoted by theThai News
Agency as saying Saturday that both parties were still discussing on how to go
about the proposed FTA now.
ĦĦĦĦ"We have held at least two meetings to map out the framework ofthe
ASEAN-China FTA Agreement, identifying the coverage of the agreement, what is
included and what is not. But it is still very preliminary," he told reporters
here on the sidelines of the ASEANStanding Committee (ASC) and Senior Officials'
Meetings (SOM) ahead of the 35th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting slated for Monday.
ĦĦĦĦASEAN economic ministers are expected to deliberate the agreement further
at their meeting in September before it is to besubmitted to the upcoming summit
of heads of governments of membercountries, scheduled to be held in Cambodia in
November, accordingto Severino, Jr.
ĦĦĦĦThe proposed ASEAN-China FTA, to be realized within 10 years, was endorsed
at the ASEAN-China summit in Brunei last November.
ĦĦĦĦUnder a program called the "Early Harvest," the ASEAN and Chinaworked out a
preliminary liberalization in such sectors as tropical resources, agricultural
products, food, textiles and electronics to be implemented in stages beginning
next year. Enditem
ĦĦĦĦ
ĦĦ
ĦĦ