ASEAN could bid to jointly host World Cup: Thai minister

Hua Hin (Thailand): Southeast Asian nations could jointly bid to host the FIFA World Cup, the Thai finance

minister proposed today at a summit of the region`s leaders. Korn Chatikavanij said he had discussed the idea of hosting the football tournament with business forums as a means of boosting the economies of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While the proposal is not on the official agenda at the summit, Korn told reporters it could still be discussed by leaders here in the Thai resort of Hua Hin. "It must be an informal discussion but I think ASEAN has the potential to host the World Cup," he said. ASEAN groups Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore, which together have a population of nearly 600 million people. Korn pointed to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which was held by South Korea and Japan -- the first edition in the tournament`s history to be hosted by two countries. The next tournament is set to be held in South Africa in 2010, followed by Brazil in 2014. ASEAN leaders at the Hua Hin summit will hold talks focusing on the economy before meeting their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand at the weekend. They are expected to focus on growing regional economic integration, especially with China, and on plans to establish an EU-style economic community by the year 2015. Bureau Report