Bangkok Summit historic for Southeast Asia

Bangkok Summit historic for Southeast Asia

JAKARTA (JP): The upcoming summit of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations in Bangkok will unite the seven ASEAN
leaders with their counterparts from the other three non-ASEAN
countries in the region.

Thailand's Ambassador to Indonesia, Kasit Pirornya, said
yesterday that the leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have
confirmed their attendance, either as guest or observer, at the
Dec. 14-15 summit in Bangkok.

This will be the first time that the leaders of all 10
Southeast Asian countries, some of which have been locked in
confrontation in the past, will be gathered in one forum.

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea, which has observer
status despite being outside of Southeast Asia proper, will be
taking part in the summit, the ambassador said.

Anticipating the three in the organization before the turn of
the century, the summit has picked as its provisional theme,
"Towards One Southeast Asia", Kasit said.

This will be the fifth ASEAN summit since its founding in
1967. The group's founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined in 1984 and
Vietnam became its seventh member last July.

The ASEAN leaders are expected to have an audience with the
Thai King. They will issue a declaration at the end of the
summit.

Kasit said there will be a separate meeting between the seven
ASEAN leaders and their counterparts from Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar on Dec. 15.

He recalled that Laos, which has an observer status, has
already stated that it intends to formally apply for ASEAN
membership in 1997. Cambodia, which has guest status, said it
plans to apply within a year or two. Myanmar has applied for an
observer status and the application is currently being
considered.

While there is no agreement on when an ASEAN-10 will be
realized, most officials in the region are optimistic that it
will happen before the turn of the century.

Common plan

To speed up the realization, Thailand as the host nation of
the summit, has proposed a common plan in which the wealthier
ASEAN members provide financial assistance to Vietnam, Cambodia,
Laos and Myanmar so that their economies can integrate faster
with the rest of ASEAN, Kasit said.

Besides the expansion of ASEAN membership, the ASEAN leaders
are also expected to discuss the proposal to speed up the
establishment of an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) ahead of the
currently agreed deadline of 2003. Brunei has proposed that the
deadline be moved forward to 2000.

Kasit said the ASEAN Summit, to be held at the Royal Orchid
Sheraton, will be preceded by a series of ministerial and senior
officials meetings.

ASEAN foreign ministers will meet on Dec. 11 and at the same
time, their economic ministers will also hold a separate meeting.
The foreign and economic ministers will have a joint meeting on
Dec. 12. Senior officials will begin their meeting on Dec. 6.

Kasit said the summit will be held at the same time that a
series of major events are taking place in Thailand.

These include the Southeast Asia Games in the northern
Thailand city of Chiang Mai, the Princess Congress about
scientific, technological and environment issues, and the closing
of the Worldtech '95 exhibition of industrial and agricultural
products in Nakhon Ratchasima, an event in which Indonesia is
also taking part.

Asked whether the expected tough competition between Indonesia
and Thailand for the overall SEA Games title will have any impact
on the summit proceedings, Kasit responded with just one word:
"No."

Kasit also explained that the Thai embassy and the Indonesian
government are currently working out a new schedule for the visit
of Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa.

The original visit last week was canceled because of a major
flood in Thailand that required the prime minister's attention.

Kasit said Banharn will be meeting with President Soeharto at
the United Nations' anniversary commemoration in New York next
month to finalize the date of the prime minister's visit.

He added that the visit will take place before the ASEAN
summit. (emb)