Senior Officials Meet to Prepare for ASEAN SummitSenior officials from members of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian countries gathered Wednesday in Singapore to make preparations for later summits which will involve ASEAN and East Asian leaders.The fourth ASEAN Informal Summit on Friday, said the officials, is expected to focus on topics of strengthening the regional grouping's unity and moving its integration process forward. During the summit, ASEAN leaders will also discuss how to enhance their cooperation in the development of information technology so as to narrow the digital divide inside the grouping. As for the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN Plus One summits on Friday and Saturday, top on agenda will be topics such as the future of East Asia and measures to be taken to strengthen East Asian cooperation. Fu Ying, director-general in charge of Asian affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters that China hopes the meetings will promote the cooperation of mutual benefit among East Asian countries. China is willing to hold in-depth discussions with ASEAN on cooperation in the economic, scientific and technological, human resources, financial and tourism fields, she said. China also supports the development of the Mekong River Basin, she added. Foreign and economic ministers from ASEAN are arriving here Wednesday to continue preparatory efforts for the forthcoming summits. On Thursday, the ministers are expected to hold two separate informal meetings and later in the day the economic ministers will sign the Protocol Regarding the Implementation of the Common Effective Preference Tariffs Scheme Temporary Exclusion List. ASEAN, founded in 1967, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |