Japan, ASEAN to meet

Japan, ASEAN to meet

TOKYO (Kyodo): Trade and industry ministers from Japan and the six ASEAN countries will meet in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Sept. 24 to discuss policies for cooperation with industrial developments in ASEAN's neighboring countries, government officials said Saturday.

International Trade and Industry Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will attend the one-day meeting with representatives of the six member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate their trade and industrial policies to facilitate industrial development in ASEAN's neighbors, such as Vietnam, the officials said.

In their last meeting in Singapore last November, the trade and industry ministers agreed to make further efforts to liberalize trade and promote investments among their nations.