Ministers yet to set informal summit date

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign ministers yesterday discussed preparations for the ASEAN informal summit but have yet to come up with a fixed date.

ASEAN Secretary-General Dato' Ajit Singh at the end of yesterday's meeting said that there needs to be more discussion before a definite date can be set.

"The dates have not been fixed really. There are still some questions because they clash either with national days or birthdays or other things," he said.

Indonesia will host an informal summit later this year in Jakarta. Apart from the seven members of ASEAN, the three prospective members of the organization -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- are also expected to attend.

Separately an ASEAN official revealed that ministers were talking of the possibility of holding the summit on Dec. 2. However the date would clash with the Laotian national day.

The official who asked not to be named further revealed that the leaders are expected to have a free flowing discussion in their meeting and thus no formal agenda will be presented.

Nevertheless, a general guideline of topics will be prepared with each country being asked to present their respective "list of subjects" about a week in advance.

Speaking of the just-concluded ministerial meeting, Ajit Singh expressed his satisfaction of the smooth flow of discussions.

He said the biggest achievement of the 29th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is probably the fact that it passed without any significant problems or controversies between the ministers.

He said he is already looking forward to next year's ministerial meeting which will be held in Kuala Lumpur and which is expected to be a momentous occasion since it will be welcoming two new members -- Cambodia and Laos -- and celebrate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN. (mds)