Leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand met here on Thursday at a subregional summit for sustaining economic stability in spite of the current global crisis.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of Indonesia, Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, special representative of the prime minister of Malaysia, and Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra attended the seventh Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit after the 22nd ASEAN summit retreat.

The IMT-GT Summit was proceeded with the signing ceremony of the Center for IMT-GT Subregional Cooperation (CIMT) Establishment Agreement, which signified concrete and reinforced commitments by the three member countries in subregional cooperation.

The establishment of CIMT would contribute significantly to ensuring effective delivery of IMT-GT programs and projects. The center would be located in Malaysia.

The IMT-GT, which was established in 1993, aims to accelerate economic growth and transformation of the IMT-GT subregion by exploiting complementarities and comparative advantages. Currently, all the 10 provinces in the Island of Indonesian Sumatera are members of IMT-GT, in addition to eight of Malaysia's 11 states and all 14 provinces of southern Thailand.

The 22nd ASEAN Summit was closed on Thursday with releasing a Chairman's Statement in which the ASEAN leaders emphasized the importance of realizing the ASEAN Community by 2015.

ASEAN was formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.