Leaders of 16 Asian nations meet in Thailand

[CrazyExpat]

Have any of you that live in that area noticed any security changes in the area or has it been business as normal for the most part?

CHA-AM, Thailand — Leaders of 16 Asian countries met Sunday in Thailand for talks on economic cooperation, disaster management and climate change.

The East Asia Summit followed Saturday meetings of leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with heads of government from China, Japan and South Korea. Sunday's expanded talks brought in Australia, New Zealand and India.

The 16 leaders represent almost half the world's population and more than a third of the global GDP, according to Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Sunday's expanded summit was a closed-door affair, and an official account of the proceedings was not immediately available.

Japanese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kazuo Kodama told reporters that leaders were expected to raise concerns over developments in North Korea and Myanmar at a working lunch.

He said Japan was interested not only in North Korea's denuclearization, but also what ASEAN has called "humanitarian concerns," which Kodama said referred to a series of abductions carried out over many years by Pyongyang's communist government, largely of Japanese citizens.

Leaders were also discussing broader global issues, including climate change and the international financial and economic situation, said Kodama.

Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday called on Myanmar to conduct free and fair elections next year when the junta has promised to hold the first polls in two decades. Activists criticized the bloc for failing to take a tougher stand against one of the world's worst human rights offenders.

A statement from the leaders did not mention detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparing the junta a public scolding. It only "underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation and that the general elections to be held in Myanmar in 2010 must be conducted in a fair, free, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community."

Kodama said Tokyo hoped the discussions held here over three days could "prepare the ground for a wider economic partnership encompassing the whole region."

"The nitty-gritty we have to work out later," he said.

ASEAN countries have haltingly tried to integrate their economies, and are seeking to eliminate trade barriers within the group to bring about a European Union-style grouping by 2015.

The ASEAN bloc is also following up on China's $25 billion initiative to promote infrastructure development in Southeast Asia, Japan's program on the use of efficient energy, and a $100 million South Korean project to help the region respond to climate change, conference documents said.

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