Leaders of five Southeast Asian nations gathered Wednesday in the Thai capital for economic talks that have taken a new focus since the latest outbreaks of bird flu in the region.
The prime ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam began two days of talks in a forum initiated by Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra aimed at boosting his country's economic ties with its less developed neighbors.
But since Thailand has suffered three new human cases of bird flu in the last two weeks, including one fatality, the summit has taken a fresh focus amid global fears that the region could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.
Prime ministers Hun Sen of Cambodia, Bounnhang Vorachith of Laos, Soe Win of Myanmar, Phan Van Khai of Vietnam and Thaksin will meet for two days along with delegations from six other partner nations for talks where controlling the deadly H5N1 virus has become a top priority.
Representatives from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, as well as the Asian Development Bank and the European Commission, are also attending the talks.
Known as the Ayeyawady-ChaoPhraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), named for major rivers in the five countries, the forum was proposed by Thaksin as a way of boosting economic ties with Thailand's poorest neighbors, which include some of the world's least developed countries.
The first meeting was held two years ago in Myanmar's historic city of Bagan with four of the nations. Vietnam joined the grouping last year.