ASEAN SEC-GEN TO ATTEND G20 SUMMIT IN LONDON

JAKARTA, March 6 (Bernama) -- Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan will
attend the G20 Summit in London on April 2 at the invitation of British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown.

Surin will join Thailand's Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has been
invited as Asean Chair, to attend the summit which aims to restore worldwide
financial stability and put the world on the path to economic recovery.

"The invitation sends a strong signal of recognition of Asean by the G20.
Both emerging and developing countries as well a developed countries need to
work together to contain the ongoing global financial crisis," Surin said in a
statement here Friday.

With the global economic prospects continuing to deteriorate, the G20 Summit
in London was timely, he said, adding that Asean leaders had stressed the
importance of macroeconomic policy coordination to address the crisis and seek a
bold and urgent reform of the international financial system. They also stood
firm against protectionism.

"The invitation to the London Summit is another important recognition for
Asean as a regional player and a global actor," he added.

At the recently concluded 14th Asean Summit in Thailand, the Asean leaders
agreed to work in tandem with the G20, particularly on the reform of the
international financial institutions and markets, and to work together with
other major economies to address the current global economic and financial
crisis.

Surin met Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the British government's envoy for the
London Summit on the sidelines of that summit.

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown also met the Asean foreign ministers.

-- BERNAMA