Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began a special two-day summit Thursday in Tokyo aiming to strengthen their relationship in political, security, economic, social and cultural fields.  

The summit, which marks the first time for all of the ASEAN leaders gathering outside their region, is expected to conclude with an agreement on Friday, which will include a package of measures to deepen their ties.

The measures will cover the political and security fields such as fighting terrorism, piracy and illicit drug and human trafficking, according to a draft of the ASEAN-Japan Action Plan to be adopted at the summit.

The action plan will also note the attendants' willingness to reinforce economic, financial and monetary cooperation through such measures as creating a free trade area between Japan and ASEAN as a whole within the coming decade.

On the Mekong River Basin, the participants will agree to enhance support and cooperation in its development program to narrow the gaps between the lesser-developed new member countries and the more established ASEAN members.

ASEAN's older members are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, while the newer ones are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2003)