Lavrov, Hillary Clinton invited to take part in 5th EAC summit.

HANOI, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the 5th summit of
the East Asian Community (EAC) as special guests, Vietnamese Vice-Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem said on Wednesday.
According to the Vietnamese vice-prime minister, the participation of
Lavrov and Clinton in EAC should be considered the countries' preparations
for membership in this forum. A decision on Russia's and the U.S.
membership will be taken after the EAC 5th summit, he added.
Pham Gia Khiem recalled that the summiteers had decided to invite
Russia and the United States to take part in the forum at the 16th ASEAN
summit in Hanoi. "This step will give the structure more opportunities to
solve regional and global problems and create favourable conditions for
expanding multilateral cooperation for the sake of peace and the
development of the region and the whole world," the Vietnamese minister
said.
The first EAC summit took place in Malaysia in 2005. It was founded by
16 countries - 10 ASEAN members, as well as China, Japan, South Korea,
India, Australia and New Zealand. The key goals of the pan-Asian forum is
to promote peace, stability and economic prosperity of East Asia and all
around the world.
-0-yur