Leaders of Indochinese Nations Meet
VIENTIANE - Amid a heavy police presence in the Laotian capital, the leaders of the
three Indochinese countries - Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - held a rare summit meeting Wednesday
under tight security.
Laotian Prime Minister Sisavat Keobounphanh, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnamese
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met at the Laotian Communist Party central headquarters.
The arrivals of the Cambodian and Vietnamese leaders were not publicized in the official media and no
official agenda has been released.
But Cambodian officials in Phnom Penh said Tuesday that the prime ministers would discuss joint
economic cooperation, cross-border drug trafficking and border disputes.
The summit is the first of its kind since all three countries were made members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Traditionally anti-communist ASEAN accepted Vietnam into the regional group in 1995. Laos joined
in 1997 and Cambodia became the group's 10th member in April.
The three Indochinese countries share a heritage of French colonialism as well as communist rule.
Since the late 1970s, all three countries have moved in varying degrees to a free-market economic
model, but Laos and Vietnam retain communist political systems with single-party rule, while
Cambodia has a struggling democracy.
Associated Press - October 20, 1999.
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