ASEAN officials to meet in C. Java

ASEAN officials to meet in C. Java

JAKARTA (JP): Senior officials from the seven members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gather in
Yogyakarta tomorrow for a three-day meeting as a precursor to the
ministerial meeting due to be held here in July.

The meeting in Yogyakarta is the third of four preparatory
meetings which will set the stage for issues to be tackled by the
ministers.

ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The meeting in Yogyakarta will be followed on Friday by a two-
day gathering of senior officials of the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF).

The ARF is a multinational consultative security forum
established by ASEAN in 1993. It currently comprises the seven
ASEAN members, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, the European
Union, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South
Korea and the United States.

Among the major issues to be discussed at the ARF senior
officials' meeting is the application of new members to join the
ARF.

India and Myanmar are the front runners to be accorded new
membership. Other states that have officially applied or
expressed interest in joining are Britain and France.

The Indonesian delegation is likely to present its report on
the criteria of new membership in the ARF. During the second ARF
meeting in Brunei last year, it was agreed that the host of the
next ARF would draw up a criteria for membership which would be
presented at the meeting in July.

The Foreign Ministry's director general for political affairs,
Izhar Ibrahim, is scheduled to lead the Indonesian delegation in
Yogyakarta while Winston Lord, assistant secretary of state for
East Asia and Pacific Affairs, is scheduled to lead the U.S.
delegation.(mds)