The ARFNET, the official website of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, was launched Friday on the sideline of the 12th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial meeting.

The website, launched by Lao Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Somsavat Lengsavad who is current Chairman of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, is designed for the dual purposes of keeping the public informed about the ARF and allowing for even closer consultation and information-sharing between ARF official participants through the use of secure real time communications.

The open portion of ARFNET provides the public with the latest news, a calendar of meetings and events, a photo gallery, a library, and links to related websites. It also provides a search engine to help users find the information they want quickly.

The ARFNET, funded by a grant from the US government, is now being maintained by the ARF UNIT, established at the 11th ARF held in Jakarta in July 2004, and is hosted at the ASEAN secretariat server at SINGTEL data center in Singapore.

ARFNET can be found at www.aseanregionalforum.org.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2005)