Press Release The First Pre-ASEAN Summit Ministerial Meeting
Pattaya, 10 February 1976


  1. The First Pre-ASEAN Summit Ministerial Meting to prepare for the Meeting of the Heads of Government of the ASEAN states in Ball as held at Pattaya from February 9 - 10, 1976.

  2. The Meeting was attended by H.E. Adam Malik, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia; YBM Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia; H.E. Carlos P. Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines; H.E. S. Rajaratnam, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore and H.E. Chatichai Choonhavan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Thailand.

  3. The meeting agreed upon the Agenda and Programme for the forthcoming Meeting of the Heads of Government to be held in Bali between February 23 - 25, 1976.

  4. The Meeting considered and approved the Progress Report and Recommendations of the Senior Officials on the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality for submission to the Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of Government.

  5. The Meeting agreed to sign the Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Secretariat during the forthcoming Meeting of ASEAN Heads of Government in Ball.

  6. The Meeting accepted the nomination by the leader of the Indonesian delegation of Mr. Hartono Rekso Dharsono as the first Secretary-General of ASEAN. This nomination will be submitted for approval by the Heads of Government in Ball subsequent to the establishment of the ASEAN Secretariat.

  7. The Meeting agreed that the ASEAN Governments will give their joint support to the following candidatures :

      (i) Dr. Sompong Sucharitkul, Thai nominee for election to the International Law Commission of the United Nations.

      (ii) Mr. Peter S. Lai, Malaysian nominee for the post of Executive Chairman of the International Tin Council.

      (iii) Mr. Arturo Tanco Jr., Secretary of Agriculture, the Philippine nominee for appointment to the post of Executive Director of the World Food Council.

  8. The Ministers agreed upon a reply to be made by the Chairman (H.E. Chatichai Choonhavan) to approaches from the Japanese and Australian Governments to confer with the ASEAN Heads of Governments after their meeting in Bali.

  9. The Ministers reviewed the achievements of the eight years of ASEAN history and were confident that a meeting of the Heads of Government of the ASEAN member states will be fitting testimony to the solid foundation of ASEAN friendship and solidarity and that meaningful directives for future cooperation will be laid down.

  10. The Ministers decided to hold their next meeting for final preparations for the Meeting of ASEAN Heads of Government on February 21, 1976 in Ball, Indonesia.

  11. The Meeting, recalling the close association and important contributions he made to ASEAN, paid tribute to the late Tun Abdul Razak, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, and stood for a minute in silence in his memory. The Meeting requested the Leader of the Malaysian Delegation to convey its condolences to his bereaved wife and family and to the people and government of Malaysia.