Cambodia to sign ASEAN treaty

Cambodia to sign ASEAN treaty

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Cambodia is expected to sign the Association of South East Asian Nation's (ASEAN) key Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in a few months, the group's Secretary- General Ajit Singh said yesterday.

Singh, who was in Cambodia recently, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has agreed to accede to the treaty, the national Bernama news agency reported yesterday.

The treaty was adopted at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Security in Bangkok this year as a framework and code of conduct for political and security cooperation in region.

Singh, speaking to reporters after the opening of a three-day ASEAN forum in Kuala Lumpur, said Hun Sen had expressed his government's desire to be part of ASEAN as soon as possible.

ASEAN groups the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei. ASEAN foreign ministers at the ARF conference in July expressed a strong wish to draw other Asian neighbors Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar into the regional grouping.