Thailand, Cambodia Agree to Indonesian Observers at Border

Brian Padden, VOA
Jakarta Saturday, 07 May 2011

"I can report to all of you that the two sides have agreed to the terms of reference for the observer team, the Indonesian observer team that we have been discussing for several weeks now."

Ahead of a regional summit, Indonesia's foreign minister has said Thailand and Cambodia agreed to allow Indonesian monitors to go to the border between the two countries to help prevent further military clashes.

In his role as the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Friday said there has been a breakthrough in ASEAN's efforts to mediate an end to the Thai-Cambodia border conflict.

"I can report to all of you that the two sides have agreed to the terms of reference for the observer team, the Indonesian observer team that we have been discussing for several weeks now," said Natalegawa. "That is a done thing in the sense that the negotiations have been concluded. Cambodia has formally acceded or formally agreed to the terms of reference. Thailand has also agreed to it but they are yet to fully conclude the formal exchange of documents."

The terms of reference include how many Indonesian observers will be dispatched and the specific areas along the border where they will operate.

Asian Monetary Fund to be approved in February: reports

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — An Asian Monetary Fund worth 120 billion dollars is set to be approved at a regional summit in February, Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatin said according to reports Wednesday.

The initiative, modelled on the International Monetary Fund and mooted since the 1997-98 financial meltdown that felled emerging Asian economies, could be deployed in the event of another crisis.

"The matter is being discussed through the ASEAN finance ministers meeting in Singapore at present and we should receive news soon," Rais said according to state news agency Bernama.

"But we have been informed that the fund would be a reality by the time the summit is held in February," he said.

Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group are to meet with their dialogue partners including China, Japan and South Korea, in Bangkok on February 24-26.

Rais said ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan has been asked to help appoint a "top-notch financial and economic adviser" to be based in Jakarta, home of the ASEAN secretariat.

He said that as the world faces a deep downturn , there was now the "political will" to take action on the long-discussed Asian Monetary Fund.

"All member states have expressed their appreciation under the circumstances that we are now faced with," he said according to the New Straits Times.

The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea last week called for quick action to set up the regional financial crisis fund, which will supercede a system of bilateral currency swaps known as the Chiang Mai Initiative.

The 10 ASEAN members and their three East Asian dialogue partners agreed in October to create the fund aimed at averting regional financial crises, then valuing it at 80 billion dollars.

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