The 33rd economic ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened in Vietnamese capital this morning.

Over the past days, ASEAN economic ministers held consultative meetings with their dialogue counterpart from China, Japan, South Korea, European Union and the United States on economic cooperation, focusing on trade facilitation, investment and technology transfer.

The meeting will call for the continued implementation of the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs to actualize the ASEAN Free Trade Area, expand investment relations and narrow down the development gap in ASEAN and between it and other regions in the world.

Issues on technical assistance to the four new ASEAN member countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, will also be discussed.

The 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in October, 2000.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(eastday.com 09/16/2001)