CEBU, Philippines, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will affirm the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Nursing Services when they meet here this week for the 12th ASEAN Summit, according to summit organizing committee officials Wednesday.

    The MRA, which opens new and greater opportunities for nurses, especially Filipino nurses, to work within the member countries of ASEAN, was signed by economic ministers of the 10 ASEAN member countries last Dec. 9 before the first scheduled summit was postponed due to Typhoon "Seniang."

    Ramon Kabigting, director of the Bureau of International Trade Regulation (BITR) of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, has said the arrangement offers new opportunities to Filipino nurses who will now be allowed wider access to nursing employment in the ASEAN region.

    ASEAN, with a combined population of 470 million, groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The regional grouping has been fast-tracking efforts to open its economies to free trade in services and goods.

    Under the MRA, rules were liberalized to allow free exchange of nursing services within the region.

    The MRA also provides for the establishment of the ASEAN joint coordinating committee on nursing services to facilitate greater understanding of existing policies, procedures and practices and develop and promote strategies to manage the implementation of the MRA.

    "The Philippines will be the MRA's biggest beneficiary, since we are now the world's biggest exporter of nurses," Kabigting said.

    Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Luis Cruz, also director-general for ASEAN Affairs, said earlier that the ASEAN member-countries are also pursuing negotiations for similar agreements in the architectural, accountancy, surveying, medical practitioners, tourism and information technology professions.