Groundwork Set To Strengthen ASEAN EAS - SOM

By Yasmin Ahmad Zukiman and Voon Miaw Ping KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN East Asia Summit (EAS) Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held Monday set the stage for deliberation on the way forward for the EAS, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this year. Director of the Asian and Pacific Cooperation Department, Russia's Foreign Ministry, Bakhtier Khakimov, said the SOM had also discussed ways to strenghten cooperation among EAS participants. "This year, we are commemorating EAS' 10th anniversary. One of the main topics brought up was the need to strengthen the EAS and set its future direction," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the EAS Senior Officials Plus 6 meeting at the Putra World Trade Centre here. The meeting, which Khakimov said was held in a frank, open and constructive manner, also prepared the groundwork for the ASEAN EAS ministerial meeting, scheduled for Aug 6 as well as the EAS Leaders Meet to be held after the 27th ASEAN Summit in November. ASEAN EAS was established in 2005 in Kuala Lumpur. It serves as a platform for leaders to engage on key strategy, political, security and environmental issue affecting the East Asian region. Other priorities of the EAS include, trade cooperation, finance, energy and health. Currently it comprises 18 participants, namely the 10 member states of ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States. -- BERNAMA