Thai, RP want ASEAN meeting before APEC<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Agencies): Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Thai
\nPrime Minister Chuan Leekpai have called for an informal meeting
\nof the six member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) to work out a 'joint stance' prior to the second
\nsummit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
\nforum in Indonesia in November.<\/p>\n
The two leaders agreed on the idea during a brief meeting in
\nBangkok on Thursday evening, according to a Thai government
\nspokesman.<\/p>\n
Ramos dropped into Bangkok on his way to a nine-day official
\nvisit to five European nations.<\/p>\n
The two leaders also agreed the failure to hold a preliminary
\nmeeting among the ASEAN members during the first APEC summit
\nmeeting in Seattle last year resulted in incoherent positions
\namong ASEAN members on various issues during the summit.<\/p>\n
APEC brings together 17 economies around the Pacific Rim to a
\nforum aiming to search for closer economic cooperation.<\/p>\n
Conceived in 1989, APEC comprises Australia, Canada, China,
\nHong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, Taiwan, the United States and the six ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n
Chile is to join the group starting with this year's meeting.
\nASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nSingapore and Thailand.<\/p>\n
India<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao said in
\nSingapore yesterday that India would apply to join the APEC forum
\nas soon as the grouping signaled its readiness for new members.<\/p>\n
Rao said that while he did not wish \"to knock on closed
\ndoors,\" he would, with Singapore's support, make a bid for
\nIndia's membership \"the moment I see that there is a chance for
\nentry,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The 73-year-old Indian premier was speaking to reporters at
\nthe end of a three-day official visit during which he held wide-
\nranging talks with Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and
\ncalled for a new partnership between India and the economically
\nbooming Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
Goh, responding to questions, said that the APEC \"door is not
\nlocked,\" adding: \"It may not be open, but it is not locked. It is
\nwaiting for the right opportunity for India to come in.\"<\/p>\n
A Singapore foreign ministry official said on Thursday that
\nSingapore which hosts the APEC secretariat would welcome India's
\nmembership in APEC because New Delhi was \"a major player in
\nAsia.\"<\/p>\n
Indian officials accompanying Rao said that Goh had promised
\nto back an Indian application to join APEC, but they said that
\nIndia was unlikely to become an APEC member soon because the
\ngrouping's leaders had frozen new admissions for three years at
\ntheir last informal talks in Seattle in November last year.<\/p>\n
APEC members account for half of the world's economic output
\nand more than 40 percent of global trade.<\/p>",
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