Australia buoyed by response to new regional forum proposal
Updated
Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says the government's proposal for an Asia Pacific community has received a warm response at regional talks in Singapore.
Mr Smith told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations none of the existing groups is comprehensive enough to allow all the major players to co-operate on both security and economic issues.
Malaysia and Indonesia gave a cool response to the proposal that the government put forward last month, but Mr Smith says there's now a willingness to explore the notion.
Mr Smith says the group can either be a new creation or evolve out one of the existing groups by the year 20-20.
