Cambodia wants into ASEAN

Cambodia wants into ASEAN

PHNOM PENH (Reuters): Cambodia's foreign minister told ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday that Phnom Penh was seeking entry into the group as soon as possible, a ministry official said.

Hor Namhong delivered a message to the ambassador of Singapore for Singapore's foreign minister, Shanmugam Jayakumar, the current chairman of the ASEAN standing committee, asking that a ceremony marking Cambodia's admission be organized soon, the official said.

The request came a day after Cambodia's National Assembly approved legislation establishing a Senate.

Some ASEAN members had made the establishment of a Senate a prerequisite for Cambodia's admission.