1. A joint meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was held in New York on 28 September 1995 with a view of exploring the possibility of mutual cooperation between the two organizations. Meeting was attended by H.E. Prof. S. Jayakumar, Foreign Minister of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Abdullah Badawi, Foreign Minister of Malaysia, representatives of the ASEAN Member States, and H.E. Mr. Boris O. Shikhmuradov, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan and representative the ECO Member States. The Secretary General of ASEAN, H.E. Dato Ajit Singh and the Secretary General of ECO, H.E. Mr. Shamshad Ah also attended the meeting.

2. During the meeting both sides highlighted the salient activities and programmes of their respective organizations and exchanged views on possible areas of common interest. In this regard, they noted with satisfaction the outcome of earlier contact between the Secretaries-General of the two Organizations during the following areas had been identified for possible cooperation

• Trade and Investment

• Transport and Communications

• Energy

• Human Resources Development

• Narcotics Control

3. Recognizing the mutual benefits of cooperation in these areas, both sides agreed that further contacts be maintained at level of the two Secretariats to determine the scope and modality of such cooperation. They also agreed to have regular meetings between Ministers of ASEAN and ECO during the annual UNGA session in New York. Meanwhile, the two Organizations could work out the modalities for exchanging information, studies and experiences areas identified as potential areas of future cooperation.