The 33 rd ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM) took place in Bandung in the Indonesia province of West Java , , from May 22 to May 25 to finalise the master plan on ‘ASEAN Connectivity.’

If agreed on, the plan will be a major boost to shipping, rail and air networks in the region.

In his opening speech, Indonesia ’s Transport Minister E.E Mangindaan said that the meeting focused on discussing ways of helping ASEAN member countries to implement their plan synchronously and speed up projects within the master plan framework.

Priority will be given to an ASEAN highway network, a Singapore Kunming railway line, a plan and feasibility study on a roll-on roll-off nautical transportation network and shorter shipping lanes, he added.

Regarding an ASEAN open-sky target by 2015, Minister Mangindaan said that all member countries should ensure that airlines are ready and able to make air travel across the ASEAN region fully integrated.

The Minister said that if an air, land and maritime transport network can be fully realised, he believes that ASEAN can be a regional power.

On air travel, the delegates discussed the commitments on air transport services and a single ASEAN aviation market, which includes economic and technical cooperation.

They agreed that the outcomes from the meeting will pave the way for partnerships with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, all of whom have demonstrated a willingness to support ASEAN’s connectivity plan.-VNA