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Manila welcomes Burma, Laos into AS
Subject: Manila welcomes Burma, Laos into ASEAN
Manila welcomes Burma, Laos into ASEAN
**************************************
MANILA, July 23 (UPI) _ The Philippines has welcomed the admission of
Burma and Laos into the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN as an event that has
taken the group nearer the
vision of its founders.
President Fidel Ramos says the entry of Burma and Laos also expands
ASEAN's political and
economic weight in the international community, presenting ``a larger
forum for the discussion of
issues common to Southeast Asia.''
Noting that the Philippines had been cooperating with the two countries
even before their
membership, Ramos vows to expand economic and political ties with Burma
and Laos.
He says, ``The Philippines and the rest of ASEAN look forward to working
with them for the
peace, stability and security of Southeast Asia, the prosperity of
Southeast Asia, and the well being
of the peoples of Laos and Myanmar.''
Burma and Laos were inducted as ASEAN members today in Kuala Lumpur.
Cambodia was
supposed to join the group along with the two countries.
ASEAN, however, postponed its entry following a violent power struggle in
Phnom Penh between
First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranarridh and Second Prime Minister
Hun Sen.
Ramos says the Philippines hopes Cambodia would eventually be an ASEAN
member ``once the
situation in that country settles and clarifies in a manner consistent
with its constitutional requirements
and international commitments.''
(UPI, 23 July 1997)
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