It has been agreed that South Korea will contribute US$24 billion to the planned regional foreign currency reserve pool, as part of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) program, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Australia and India have expressed interest to contribute to this CMIM reserve pool, designed under the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan, South Korea) framework as a rescue fund in time of currency shortage crisis for the region, said Surin on the first day of ASEAN Plus Six summits, which will kick off on Saturday in this central beach city Pattaya in central Thailand.

It was agreed at the 2007 ASEAN Plus Three Finance Ministers' Meeting that each of 10+3 countries will deposit a portion of their own foreign reserve into the common pool to help each other for short-term currency flow in case of financial crisis.

During a special finance ministers' meeting in Phuket, Thailand in February, ASEAN and Plus Three agreed to expand the fund from an originally planned US$80 billion to US$120 billion,with the 10 ASEAN countries contributing 20 percent while China, Japan and South Korea sharing 80 percent.

ASEAN finance ministers met before ASEAN Plus Six summits in Pattaya and settled the portion of contribution by individual ASEAN countries -- Laos,

The issue as to the contribution of China, Japan and South Korea was informally discussed during the informal working dinner among ASEAN leaders Friday evening, said Surin.

South Korea's contribution is now decided at roughly US$24 billion, equal to the total sum shared by the 10 ASEAN member countries, while the rest of US$72 billion will be contributed by China and Japan, said Surin.

It is expected that China and Japan would agree on their portion of contribution before the next ASEAN Plus Three finance ministers meeting in early May in Bali, Indonesia, according to Surin.

It will be further discussed during the next two days' summits.

The issue regarding participation of Australia and India will be discussed after the ASEAN Plus Three nations finish the establishment of the US$120 billion foreign reserve pool, said Surin.

The CMI was created following the 1997 financial crisis to start as a bilateral currency swaps program, but later the participating countries agreed to transform the CMI into a multilateral foreign reserve pool.

Leaders from 16 countries, including 10 ASEAN member countries, and ASEAN's six dialogue partners -- China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand, will attend the ASEAN Plus series of summits from Friday to Sunday to discuss cooperation amid current financial crisis and other pressing issues facing the region.

The Association of the South East Asian (ASEAN) combines 10 countris -- Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia.