The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed in Bali, Indonesia Tuesday the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II which lays down the pillars for the ASEAN single community by 2020.

"It is the document that will establish an ASEAN community," Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri said after the signing ceremony together with her counterparts from the other nine ASEAN member countries.

The regional grouping started a two-day summit here, which was also attended by the leaders of China, India, Japan and South Korea.

The signing of the landmark accord will enable the 36-year-old ASEAN to embark on establishing an economic, security, social and cultural community among member countries.

The ASEAN Economic Community, one of the pillars of the so-called Bali Concord II, envisions a single market and production base duplicating the Euro-style economic integration of the 1970s, characterized by the free flow of goods, services, investment and freer flow of capital by 2020.

The leaders also agreed on the formation of the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), proposed by Indonesia to enable collective efforts to combat terrorism and other transnational crimes in the region.

The ASC is expected to bring ASEAN's political and security cooperation to a higher level so as to ensure that countries in the region live in peace with one another and with the world at large, in a just, democratic and harmonious environment.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The first ASEAN Concord was also signed in Bali at the first ASEAN Summit in 1976.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2003)