China, S. Korea, Japan formalise annual meet

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, NOV. 24. China, South Korea and Japan today decided to hold a ``regular'' meeting on the sidelines of their annual ``ASEAN+3'' meeting, officials said.

The decision to hold regular meetings, which has not been given a formal title, came during a breakfast meeting by the Chinese Premier, Mr. Zhu Rongji, the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, and the South Korean President, Mr. Kim Dae-jung, on Friday morning.

The ``ASEAN+3'' meeting too is likely to be formalised and an ``East Asian grouping'' may emerge though countries like Japan appear to be treading cautiously in this direction.

While ASEAN leaders declared that the ASEAN+3 meeting this afternoon had agreed to set up an East Asian study group, Japanese officials said the issue had been discussed, but stressed that no final decision had been taken.

Clearly, this new engagement between ASEAN and East Asia is being seen as an effort to reinvigorate the ASEAN grouping as the economies of China, South Korea and Japan are much bigger and performing better than their South-East Asian counterparts.

The officials also stated that it was no longer necessary that an ``ASEAN+3'' meeting need take place in an ASEAN country; several ASEAN leaders said they were prepared to travel to one of the three ``guest'' nations. This indicates the drift in East Asian cooperation and the possibilities that lie ahead.

One concrete decision emerging from today's meetings is a bilateral currency swap arrangement and repurchase arrangement among the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers.

The basic framework and principles for the agreement have been worked out, in line with the Chiang Mai initiative taken earlier this year.

``Bilateral negotiations will be based on the agreed framework and principles. It is expected that several bilateral arrangements will be concluded by the next ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers meeting in Honolulu in May 2001'', a press advisory put out by the Japanese stated.

This, the officials said, was distinct from the ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA), which was already in place. The participants of the ASA now included all 10 ASEAN members and the amount available under the agreement was $1 billion.

ASEAN countries are already seeking assistance from their richer North-East Asian neighbours in the Trans-Asian railway project, feasibility studies for which are to begin soon.

Cooperation in the areas of anti-piracy, information technology and the development of the Mekong sub-region is also likely to see greater cooperation between ASEAN member States and North- East Asia.

The issue of Indonesia too came up at the ``ASEAN+3'' meeting, with some leaders expressing support for its integrity and sovereignty. However, there appeared to have been few specific on how ``ASEAN+3'' could help Indonesia in its hour of crisis.

Earlier today, the ASEAN heads of State/Government signed an ``e- ASEAN Framework Agreement'' with the objective of promoting cooperation to ``develop, strengthen and enhance'' the competitiveness of the information-communication technology sector in ASEAN.

The other objectives of the agreement are to reduce the digital divide within ASEAN member States and promote the liberalisation of IT products, services and investments.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Robert Romulo, who headed the e-task force which was set up last year, said the objective of the agreement was not to merge different national infrastructure in the region, but make them operable together.

While this agreement has been signed, there is also the consciousness that countries like Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia lag far behind other ASEAN countries in the use and promotion of information technology.

The Singapore Prime Minister, Mr. Goh Chok Tong, stressed the need for all ASEAN nations to promote the knowledge and use of English - key to the development of IT.

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Section  : International
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