ASEAN broods over currency crisis

“It will be difficult to concentrate on the future when the present is so painful, but we will try,” host Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed said on the eve of the summit. “Most of the discussions will be centered on the current problem.”

ASEAN includes Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Officials who laid the groundwork for the talks said the leaders will issue an `ASEAN Vision 2020′ statement spelling out their goals for the 21st century, and may issue a separate statement specifically on the currency crisis.

The currency crisis began in Thailand nearly six months ago and has since spread as far as South Korea. Japan is mired in domestic economic malaise, leaving China as the only major summit participant unscathed by the turmoil.

Official sources said environmental issues — including the severe haze from forest fires in Indonesia which blanketed the region for months and hurt the tourism industry — were expected to be taken up by ASEAN leaders.

Joint declarations spelling out the shape of future relations with China, Japan and South Korea will be issued.

ASEAN leaders will meet among themselves Monday, after which they will sit down with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, and South Korean Prime Minister Koh Kun.

Abdul Kadir Mohamad, secretary-general of the Malaysian foreign ministry, said it was “one of our wishes and hopes, that this summit will restore confidence in the economies of countries that are involved in the summit.” He said the leaders would discuss a report by their finance ministers, who met in Kuala Lumpur in early December and agreed to set up a regional surveillance and early warning system to avert future crises.