广播听力：ASEAN+3 FMs Agree to Foster Regional Economic Confidence

ASEAN plus three brings together the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations plus China, Japan and South Korea.

The agreement was reached at a special meeting on Sunday in Phuket in southern Thailand.
Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the agreement will contribute to market stability and enhance confidence.(www.hXen.com)

"In order to ensure regional market stability and to foster the confidence in the markets, we stress the importance of operationalising the multilateralization of the Chiang Mai initiative or CMIM. The total size of the multilateralized Chiang Mai Initaitive will be increased from the initially agreed level of 80 billion US dollars to 120 billion US dollars. The proportion of the amount of contribution between ASEAN and plus three countries will be maintained at 20-80 respectively."

The ASEAN+3 group introduced the Chiang Mai Initiative or CMI in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It served as a bilateral currency swap arrangement.

In May 2008, the ASEAN plus three finance ministers agreed to transform the CMI to CMIM, with each country contributing a share to a common reserve fund.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren said he believes the CMIM will play a role in helping Southeast Asian countries weather the economic crisis.

"The establishment of the regional foreign reserve pool will stabilize the regional financial market and facilitate the economic development in the region."

Sunday's Special ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' Meeting was held ahead of the 14th ASEAN Summit scheduled at the end of February.