Siazon said expanding bilateral payments schemes was also discussed over an informal dinner attended by the east asian ministers ahead of separate Asean meetings with China, Japan and South Korea today.

Malaysian foreign minister Abdullah Ahmad Badwai "was asking about a possibility of increasing bilateral payments schemes so that we could increase the use of national currencies," Siazon told reporters. "We also talked about the possibility of using the yen as an international currency for trading," he added. "If the euro gains acceptance as an international currency, and if the dollar is also an international currency, Asia would have a lot of disadvantages if we don't have our own common currency," Siazon said. "Once the Chinese yuan becomes completely convertible, we could think of an Asian currency basedessentially on yen-yuann" he said.