Cambodia calls on ASEAN unity

Cambodia calls on ASEAN unity

PHNOM PENH (AFP): Just over a year after joining the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Cambodia says its
membership has yielded benefits but urges the group to unify its
approach to globalization.

"The outcome is positive. We could not allow ourselves to stay
outside ASEAN," Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong said in
an interview.

On the diplomatic front, Phnom Penh can pride itself on having
helped persuade North Korea to join the group's security forum,
thanks to warm relations between King Norodom Sihanouk and the
reclusive state.

However, Cambodia's entrance into the Southeast Asian "family"
on April 30, 1999, was not all plain sailing. It should have
joined in July 1997, at the same time as Myanmar and Laos, but
the armed conflict that broke out when Hun Sen ousted his
royalist rival Prince Norodom Ranariddh from power forced a
delay.