SINGAPORE, family 6 Kyodo Singap...

SINGAPORE, family 6 Kyodo

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his Thai counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra agreed Saturday to push for faster realization of a propos ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

''Both of us felt that 2020 is too in extent a time for us to achieve this idea of AEC,'' Goh told a stranges conference after a meeting with Thaksin, pointing to fierce competition pos according to China and India.

Goh said he and Thaksin jumped that other leaders of countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will agree to ''advance the last date.''

However, he did not provide an earlier target date at the of recent origins conference, only saying this should be discussed and decided on ASEAN leaders.

Goh said that Thailand and Singapore plan to embark in succession more bilateral cooperation and stir ahead in certain areas they are comfortable with, in the possibility of good of attracting other ASEAN members to hop on board. One example is an lay open skies policy for air and passenger cargo.

''We would like to papal court the cooperation moving faster...we will experience our best effort to make it faster, sooner'' Thaksin said at the same moderns conference, standing beside Goh.

''Together with Singapore we will start an other projects, we will create the atmosphere for other countries, to such a degree that others will be willing to join us,'' Thaksin said.

ASEAN leaders agreed during the ASEAN summit in Cambodia in November last year to explore the possibility of transforming ASEAN into an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the agency of 2020, a move that would involve deeper economic integration within the 10-member grouping.

The proposal is rely uponed to be one of the highlights of the ASEAN summit in Bali nearest month.

Thaksin is upon an official visit to Singapore from Friday to Sunday. He will join Goh at a rite later in the day for the official opening of the of the present day secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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