JAKARTA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is considering opening a permanent representative office in Jakarta and is pledging to support Indonesia's bid to be a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a local newspaper said Tuesday.

    The office underlined the need for (ASEAN) to improve coordination to achieve the goals of the country members, reported the Jakarat Post, quoting a draft statement from the regional grouping.

    "In keeping with the accelerated pace and increased workload of ASEAN, we would work toward the early establishment of permanent representation at the ambassadorial level to represent their interests at the ASEAN secretariat," the draft of the statement said.

    Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary general Imron Cotan said that by establishing permanent representative, ASEAN could reduce its workload as annually it held over 700 meetings and conferences to cover its programs.

    "With the permanent representative, ASEAN can coordinate its activities much better while continues its programs," he said.

    ASEAN also reaffirmed its support for Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia to become non-permanent members of the UNSC for the years of 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, and 2015-2016 respectively, according to the draft statement.

    "In this context, we also reaffirmed our collective endeavor to support Indonesia's bid for the non-permanent seat for the UNSC for 2007-2008, in the election to be held at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly," it said. Enditem