OVER 20 RI ENVOYS MEET IN MANADO ON ASEAN

Brisbane, July 29 (ANTARA) - Indonesian ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu Primo Alui Joelianto left for Manado, North Sulawesi Province, on Tuesday, to attend a meeting on ASEAN of Indonesian envoys stationed in over 20 foreign countries.

"Ambassador Primo Joelianto left on Tuesday," Samsu Rizal, the Indonesian embassy's minister counselor for political affairs, said in Canberra, on Wednesday.

The coordinating meeting of Indonesian ambassadors to ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) member countries and ASEAN partner countries was important for the progress of ASEAN amid the dynamics of complex regional and global developments, he said.

"I think we should also hear the views of ASEAN's partners on the regional organization's current status and future," he said.

Compared to other regional organizations, ASEAN' had progressed in a more stable way both in political and economic terms, despite problems such as the Myanmar issue, he said.

Robby Mamuaya, secretary of the North Sulawesi provincial administration, said in Manado on Tuesday, that the meeting would be held from July 31 to August 1, 2009.

The meeting's participants would include Indonesian ambassadors to Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, Belgium, Russia, the United States and Canada.

ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok by the five original member countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on January 8,1984, Vietnam on July 28,1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 23,1997, and Cambodia on April 30,1999.

In 2006, the ASEAN region had a population of about 560 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of almost US$ 1,100 million, and a total trade of about US$ 1,400 billion.