Current EAS chairman and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in Singapore yesterday that "We should continue to broaden and deepen cooperation activities with the EAS framework."

While making opening remarks at the 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) which was held in Singapore yesterday, Lee said, "As the number and scope of activities increase, we will need better coordination and strong structures to support the EAS process.

"This will propel the EAS into its next phase of development and enable it to better contribute to stability and growth in East Asia."

The EAS is a pan-Asia forum held annually by the leaders of 16 countries in East Asia and the region, with the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a leadership position.

The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 14, 2005 and subsequent meetings were held after the annual ASEAN leaders' meetings.

Lee said, "East Asia's dramatic transformation is the biggest growth story of our times. Powered by the rapid emergence of China and India, the region is on the move and surging ahead."

He said that over the last decade, East Asia has become more integrated, reflecting the growing intra-regional trade, investment and people linkages.

Intra-EAS trade now accounts for almost 60 percent of the total foreign trade of the member countries, he added.

"The EAS is a response to these intensifying linkages between our countries. It is a forum to promote cooperation, while managing healthy competition in the region," Lee said.

"It is also a platform to manage the complexities of a rapidly changing environment, so as to preserve favorable conditions for growth and prosperity in East Asia," he added.

He said, "If we succeed in creating an EAS-wide Free Trade Area, it will completely reshape and transform the region's economic landscape."

Besides focusing on regional cooperation, he said, EAS countries should also work together to address pressing global issues. "In particular, the most serious long-term challenge confronting all of us today is climate change," he added.

"This is why we have chosen the inter-related themes of 'Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development' for our discussion," he said.

"The EAS is still a relatively new grouping. But it has started off on a strong footing, and we should seize the momentum to push the process forward," Lee said.

The EAS involves 10 ASEAN member countries, namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.