Malaysia announced today that it would host the first formal summit of East Asian nations when it takes over chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next year.

Details of the meeting, including which countries would attend, would be worked out by Asean foreign ministers, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"Malaysia is pleased that a consensus has been reached to convene the first East Asian Summit in Malaysia," Abdullah said.

"The foreign ministers have been tasked to iron out the details pertaining to the summit."

Among the issues to be decided is whether the summit would only involve Asean and its dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea, which are already in a group known as Asean Plus Three, or include other Asian nations.

The East Asian Summit will be the realisation of a 1990 proposal by then-Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad for an East Asian Economic Caucus.

Single market

The proposal failed to take off because of opposition from the United States which feared it would undermine the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Analysts and diplomats have said a more formal East Asian Summit could replace the Asean Plus Three framework and underscore the region's seriousness in pursuing a goal to achieve a European Union-style single market and community by 2020.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said his country wanted the East Asian Summit to cover not only China, Japan and South Korea, but also India, Australia and New Zealand.

Foreign ministers would discuss the issue at their annual retreat in the Philippines next year, he said.

"The work has just begun, but the decision has been made to have the summit in Malaysia," he said.