"The significance is that it has started to be talked about," Asean Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino told reporters. "We are at a very early stage...but I am surprised at the receptivity on the desirability of a common currency.

"Before the (Asian Financial) crisis, this was unthinkable."

But he added it had taken Europe 50 years to adopt a common currency and only 11 countries in that region were involved in the exercise.

"There are many considerations to be worked out...it would strike at the role of National central banks," Severino said. "Studies are now being carried out by academic circles and think-tanks."

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

A common currency would facilitate regional trade and reduce dependence on major currencies, Philippine President Joseph Estrada said on Thursday.

Severino said the next step would be for regional leaders to set some general targets for considering the plan, although it was not certain if this would happen at an Asean summit to be held in Manila late next month.

A meeting of Asean finance ministers which will precede the summit will discuss the second report of a surveillance commission set up by the group to prevent another regional financial crisis, he added.

Deputy finance ministers and deputy governors of central banks in the region will discuss the draft of the report, being prepared by the Asean secretariat, at a meeting in early November, he said.

"There is some concern that because economies are recovering faster and earlier than expected, reform efforts may slacken," Severino said.

"At a National level, there is no sign of a slackening. At the regional level, Asean has been trying to ensure the reforms continue," he said.

The finance ministers will also discuss a common Asean stand to be taken at the Seattle round of World Trade Organisation talks and the need for social safety nets in member nations, he added.

The summit itself could discuss a Philippine plan for an East Asia security grouping and a code of conduct on the disputed Spratly Islands, Severino said.

The Spratlys, a collection of barren islands and reefs in the South China Sea, are believed to be atop vast reserves of oil and gas and are claimed wholly or in part by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.