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The two-day meeting of the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on Economic Integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended here Saturday afternoon.
The third HLTF meeting discussed ultimate form of integration, path toward deeper integration, institutional design included in the paper on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) compiled by ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International Studies and suggestion on emergence of ASEAN economic integration.
The discussions also covered possibilities of liberalization and facilitation measures, institutional changes and movement of human resources stated in the papers on AEC as well as proposed end goals of AEC, existing initiatives, operational problems and new initiatives.
The meeting decided that the fourth HLTF meeting will be held in Singapore on Aug. 2.
The present ASEAN HLTF meeting on economic integration, which began on Friday and was attended by representatives of the ASEAN members and officials of the ASEAN Secretariat, was aimed at seeking possible ways and means for turning the ASEAN into AEC adopted at the 8th ASEAN Summit held in Cambodia in November 2002.
The first HLTF meeting took place in Thailand in March 2003, while the second in Malaysia in May 2003.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2003)
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