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.