The ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting is relatively young among ASEAN ministerial meetings, having been convened for the first time only in 1996; but already it has achieved much toward making it safer and easier for goods and people to move throughout Southeast Asia - by road, by rail, by air and by sea. This is an endeavor of the greatest importance for ASEAN's economies and its people.

We meet today in the midst of a severe downturn in the economies of the region. The response of our leaders to this crisis has been to reaffirm their commitment to regional economic integration. This means not only keeping the ASEAN Free Trade Area on track and strengthening it. A vital part of that integration is linking our economies and societies more closely and more strongly together by building, upgrading and improving transport networks among our countries, making them work better and less expensively.

The work of the ASEAN Transport Ministers thus contributes substantially to ASEAN's economic and social integration. And it does so in concrete and tangible ways. The agreement on the recognition of inspection certificates of commercial vehicles that the Ministers will sign tomorrow is an example of this. So are the goods-in-transit agreement that is to be concluded later this year and the multimodal and inter-state transport agreements which are due for implementation in the future.

The primary role that road networks and railway links are taking in the development plans for the Greater Mekong Sub-region underlines the importance of transport in ASEAN's work. So does the ASEAN members' commitment to liberalizing air services regimes in the region. Air transport and maritime transport are among the leading sectors covered by the current ASEAN negotiations on trade in services.

This is, of course, of enormous importance for the economies of our countries and the lives of our people. Transport is not just about infrastructure. It is not just about facilities and facilitation. It is, above all, about building an integrated ASEAN economy. A more closely integrated economy, in turn, is essential for restoring and reinforcing confidence in the prospects of our region, and thus for pulling in the investments that are essential for the recovery of our economies. At the same time, good and efficient transport makes contact between people quicker, smoother and more pleasant. The work of this ministerial forum thus helps greatly in binding ASEAN's economies closer together and in building the ASEAN community that is so vital for the future of our nations.

ASEAN's economic integration and cohesion are also vitally important for ASEAN's unity, now that our association has expanded to nine members from the seven that we had only four years ago. We can only be gratified by the active involvement of Laos and Myanmar, as well as of Vietnam, in the work of this forum and thus in ASEAN's closer economic integration.

Transport is so important to ASEAN cooperation and integration that it ought to occupy a prominent place in the Hanoi Plan of Action, which our leaders are expected to issue at their 6th Summit in December this year. The Plan of Action is designed to translate the ASEAN Vision 2020 into action through concrete measures to bring ASEAN's economies onto the path of economic recovery.

We shall be completing the implementation of the Transport Plan of Action by the time of the 6th Summit in December. As the Ministers know, the ASEAN Secretariat, on behalf of the senior transport officials, will soon embark on a Japanese-assisted study to develop the 1999-2004 Transport Plan of Action. This should be entirely consistent with the larger Hanoi Plan of Action. In this way, the transport sector shall help bring about the recovery of ASEAN's economics, the closer integration of the economies and societies of ASEAN, the building of a true ASEAN community, and a significant improvement in the lives of the people of ASEAN.

In this way shall the transport sector contribute to the fulfillment of ASEAN Vision 2020.