Ramos: Asia should strengthen joint discussion on security and development issues

April 13 Evening News in an exclusive dialogue with Sina Finance, the former Philippine president and one of the initiators of the Boao Forum for Asia said today that Asian countries should strengthen cooperation and ties, and that free trade between China and ASEAN is a good example.　　He also said that in the future, the dialogue should be expanded to discuss security and development issues. In his 2011-year meeting in Boao, Ramos told Sina Finance that there should be greater cooperation and contact between Asian countries, and that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is a good example.　　Thanks to cooperation with China, ASEAN and Japan have also concluded free trade agreements and will work with South Korea and India. "ASEAN is like a pioneer, and when such a free trade union grows, it becomes a big group," Ramos said.　　He pointed out that ASEAN members and Asian countries will regularly discuss related issues in order to enhance exchanges. As for the future development of ASEAN and Asia, he said, as discussed at the Boao Forum, it is hoped that more and more countries will engage in an official dialogue. In addition, Asian countries should expand the content of the dialogue and expand it to a wider range of economic complementarities and security issues. "We should focus on human development and security, not on military development," he said. "(Xiao Ying from Boao)