Singapore - The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) intends to foster greater trust and cooperation between the international community and Myanmar's government, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday. 

Kicking off a meeting of ASEAN's foreign ministers in Singapore, Lee also said ASEAN has decided to press on with the implementation of its landmark charter "without waiting for all 10 members to ratify." 

The crisis over Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar in May, "tested ASEAN unity and forced us to consider what ASEAN meant to Myanmar and in turn what Myanmar meant to the group," Lee said. 

"Fortunately, ASEAN responded," Lee said, citing ASEAN's role in facilitating international aid after Myanmar's ruling military junta initially refused to allow foreign supplies and aid workers to enter the country. 

While the immediate crisis has past, much remains to be done to sustain recovery and rehabilitation, Lee said. 

The United Nations is appealing for 480 million US dollars in emergency relief over the next year for the 2.4 million people who have been affected by the cyclone. 

"The scale of the devastation in the Irrawaddy Delta is immense, Lee said. "Only the international community will have the capacity for this long-term reconstruction work." 

With the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia still holding out on ratifying the ASEAN Charter, Lee said the pace of integration "should not be set by the slowest members or else all will be held back by the problems of the few." 

Lee said ASEAN would work on two key areas in the charter, the dispute settlement mechanism and the ASEAN human rights body. 

"We are also strengthening the ASEAN secretariat in order to monitor the implementations of agreements and compliance of member countries," he said. 

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the charter, which turns ASEAN into a legal entity, would be ratified by all members by December. 

ASEAN has also set 2015 as its goal for a European Union-like economic community. 

Its charter, which ASEAN's leaders signed in November, has been widely criticized for its policy of "constructive engagement" regarding Myanmar, which last month extended opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest. 

Myanmar, however, indicated that Suu Kyi could be freed in the next six months because current laws limit her maximum period of detention to six years. 

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo told reporters that his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, said she has "about half a year's time left." 

"We were given the impression that her term of detention is running out in six months, and upon the occasion of that six months, what will come, that's the issue," Surin told reporters, indicating some skepticism. 

"The monitors are wishing and hoping that the whole thing will again be resolved immediately," he added. 

ASEAN saw some rare success with Myanmar's junta after Nargis. While Myanmar's government became the focus of international condemnation over its refusal to allow in aid and aid workers, ASEAN came under widespread pressure to come up with a solution in dealing with its most difficult member. 

"Just as we could not ignore political developments in Myanmar, neither could we stand aside from this humanitarian crisis when so many lives have been lost and so many more remained at risk," Lee said. 

Lee, who is hosting the meeting while Singapore holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship, said the organization played an important role in bridging the gap of trust between Myanmar's government and international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. 

"This tripartite effort of ASEAN, the government of Myanmar and the UN is far from perfect, but the situation is clearly better than if ASEAN had not intervened to persuade Myanmar to cooperate with the international community," Lee said. (dpa)