Laos, Cambodia may join ASEAN

Laos, Cambodia may join ASEAN

MANILA (AFP): Cambodia and Laos could join the seven-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as early as 1997, and Myanmar in five years' time, Philippine President Fidel Ramos said yesterday.

Vietnam joined the mainly economic grouping of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand last month, but ASEAN leaders want to eventually integrate all 10 southeast Asian economies under its umbrella.

"We now expect Laos and Cambodia to join our grouping formally within two to three years," Ramos told an ASEAN journalists' forum here. Analysts say his timetable is significantly earlier than previously forecast.

"Recent events in Myanmar (Burma) enable us to hope ASEAN can complete uniting the natural cluster of 10 southeast Asian countries by the year 2000, " Ramos said.