EU, ASEAN ministers plan to meet in Laos

EU, ASEAN ministers plan to meet in Laos

BANGKOK (Reuters): Southeast Asian and European Union foreign ministers have agreed to meet in Vientiane, Laos, in December, a senior Thai official said on Thursday.

"We agreed to hold a meeting in the capital of Laos during December 11-12 this year," Don Pramudwinai, director-general at the Thai foreign ministry's information department, told reporters.

Ministers had been due to meet earlier in the year but no suitable dates could be found.

Don said the 13th ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting would aim to strengthen political and economic ties between the two blocs.

The meeting will be the first since February 1997 when the European Union protested against Myanmar joining the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The issue of human rights in Myanmar had also been tabled for talks between ASEAN and the EU due on Friday, he added.

EU officials attending Asian security talks in Bangkok said they expected a European delegation to visit Myanmar soon, possibly in late September or early October.

The military government in Yangon has been widely condemned for crushing democracy and using citizens for forced labor.

ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.