The 10th Asean Summit began here Monday with the focus on working towards achieving the Asean vision and the future direction of the regional grouping, the Malaysian news agency "Bernama" reported. Laotian Prime Minister Bounnhang Vorachith opened the meeting, attended by the heads of state or government of the 10-member grouping, including Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The annual summit is being held at the newly built Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre (Lao ITECC) under tight security. This is the largest and most historic international conference being held in Laos, a country with some 5.6 million people, which was admitted into Asean in 1997. The leaders of this fast-growing region of some 500 million people will also discuss various issues related to politics, security, economics and social. Asean or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was established in Bangkok on Aug 8, 1967, and is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
