Myanmar sets eye on ASEAN membership

Myanmar sets eye on ASEAN membership

HANOI (Reuter): Myanmar wants to join the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and believes this will strengthen
regional security, Myanmarese Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw said in
an interview published yesterday.

"We welcome the concept of 'the ASEAN 10' and consider it an
active step in the direction of strengthening peace, stability
and prosperity in this region," he told Vietnam's Communist Party
daily Nhan Dan.

Gyaw, accompanying Myanmar's military leader Gen. Than Shwe on
his first official visit to Vietnam, also expressed his support
for Vietnam to become an ASEAN member in July.

ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Laos is an official ASEAN
observer and Cambodia has said it wants to join.

Gyaw said Burma, also known as Myanmar, believed that
cooperation among regional countries boosted progress. Now that
Myanmar was moving towards a market economy, "the conditions are
all the more favorable to tie up relations between Burma and
ASEAN", he said.

Than Shwe, chairman of Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) and prime minister, held talks with
Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on Thursday.

They reaffirmed their resolve to implement signed agreements
on cooperation in forestry, agriculture, precious stones, drug
control, culture, education and oil, the official Vietnam News
Agency reported.

They welcomed the scheduled signing next month of an agreement
on sustainable development of the Mekong River basin.

Than Shwe had a meeting yesterday with Vietnam's top leader,
Communist Party General-Secretary Do Muoi.

The two governments were due to sign agreements on undisclosed
subjects today before the Myanmarese leader flies to Ho Chi Minh
City for a two-day visit to Vietnam's biggest city.