Leaders of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries committed themselves Sunday at the Third ASEAN Informal Summit to strengthening their cooperation in economic, social, political and other areas.

According to a joint statement issued at the end of the summit, leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations agreed to increase their cooperation in information technology, e-commerce, industry, agriculture and tourism.

The statement said the member countries will continue their structural reform and strengthen cooperation to sustain the region's economic growth and prevent the recurrence of economic crises in East Asia.

It also encouraged active participation in the development of growth areas in East Asia, including the Mekong River Basin.

On monetary and financial cooperation, the leaders said they will support mechanisms in East Asia through the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) framework, including the ongoing dialogue and cooperation mechanism of the ASEAN+3 finance and central bank leaders and officials.

At the summit, the leaders also agreed to take measures to promote cooperation in the development of the scientific, technical, cultural and human resources areas, said the statement.

For the political and security areas, the leaders agreed to continuing dialogue, coordination and cooperation to increase mutual understanding and trust toward forging lasting peace and stability in East Asia.

During the meeting, the leaders also decided to hold an ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers Meeting in the margins of the Post Ministerial Conference in Thailand in the year 2000 to review the progress of the implementation of this joint statement.

The Philippines is the third ASEAN country to host the ASEAN Informal Summit. The first informal summit was held in Jakarta on November 30, 1996, while the second in Kuala Lumpur on December 15 and 16, 1997.

ASEAN, which was formed in 1967, now groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.