KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed Monday that ASEAN initiatives be allowed to take off with the participation of only two countries at the least, with the other members coming on board when they are ready.

    Saying that this 2+X model could help accelerate the process of ASEAN integration, he pointed out that the proposal took into account the differences in the level of economic development among ASEAN countries that might restrict their ability to proceed with some of the initiatives.

    Thaksin put forward his proposal at the plenary session of the 11th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held here Monday.

    A spokesperson for the Thai government said Thaksin had called on the 10-member regional grouping, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to speed up its integration by overcoming any obstacle that hindered the process.

    On the Asian Bond Fund (ABF), Thaksin said it should be the key mechanism to develop Southeast Asia so that the region would not be dependent on external capital.

    Thaksin also spoke on public health and communicable diseases, and suggested that ASEAN countries adopt a program to stock the bird flu vaccine for use in a crisis.

    On security, he called for greater information and intelligence sharing so as to handle security threats, such as terrorism, in the region.

    At their plenary session, ASEAN leaders deliberated, among other things, on issues related to security, regional integration, public health and the progress of the ABF, and signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter, which is expected to give the grouping a legal standing and provide the ASEAN Secretary-General and the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta more clout in decision-making. Enditem