ASEAN weighing an extended free-trade zone

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has proposed to undertake a feasibility study for a huge free trade zone, which would also include regional partners China, Japan and South Korea.

ASEAN plus three would discuss details of the study at meetings in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin, officials said, adding that the grouping would also discuss a wider economic partnership covering India, Australia and New Zealand as well.

Meanwhile, Japan has proposed a new EU-style Asian Community with the US also playing a role. Japan's prime minister Yukio Hatoyama also said its alliance with Washington was at the heart of its diplomacy.

Hatoyama, although against US troop deployment in Tokyo, said there should be some economic involvement for the United States in the Asean Community.

"Japan places the US-Japan alliance at the foundation of its diplomacy," Hatoyama was quoted as saying at a meeting with ASEAN leaders.

The Southeast Asian region, with a population of 570 million and a combined gross regional product of around $1.1 trillion, is also nearly out of the global recession.