Thailand, S'pore support summit

Thailand, S'pore support summit

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Thailand and Singapore support Japan's call for summit meetings at least once a year with the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) to deepen ties with the region, the Thai foreign minister said yesterday.

"We both support Japan," Prachuab Chaiyasan told a briefing following talks with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. "We think that ASEAN-10 in the future will be a very good region for Japan's investments."

ASEAN, which groups Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam, has agreed to admit Laos, Cambodia and Burma together at some time in the future, making 10 members in total.

Some analysts have suggested ASEAN may admit the three states this year to coincide with its 30th anniversary.

Last month Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said in Singapore it was necessary to strengthen policy dialog between Japan and ASEAN at various levels because of the increasing importance of the grouping.