Jakarta - A meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers will now be held in Jakarta later this month following recent political turmoil in Thailand, an Indonesian official said.
Thailand said it would postpone the Association of South East Asian Nations` (ASEAN) summit meeting, due to take place in the northern city of Chiang Mai from December 13-17.
"There is a proposal from Thailand as the head of ASEAN to hold the meeting on December 15 at the Secretariat in Jakarta," Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for Indonesia`s foreign ministry said, adding technical preparations were being made.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono offered to step in to host some of the meetings, including the meetings of foreign ministers meeting and finance ministers.
Yudhoyono had underlined the importance of meeting to officially introduce the new ASEAN Charter, which aims to set up a political, economic and social bloc of half a billion people, and is due to come into force in mid-December.
It was also important to discuss a pool of currency swap lines called the Chiang Mai Initiative, he said.
Faizasyah said discussions were still being held on whether a meeting of finance ministers from ASEAN and the group`s dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea would take place on Bali.
ASEAN comprises the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Reuters
Source:
http://tvnz.co.nz (December 4, 2008)
