ASEAN targets free trade and human rights, talks green

Meetings with leaders from China, Japan, India and South Korea will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"It's going to be a slow process. They have to attempt something on the big scale that is attracting investors to China and India," said David Cohen, of consultancy Action Economics. "But it's easier to do bilateral deals -- look at the Doha round, still stuck in a rut."

The summit in the city-state will also focus on the environment, a huge issue in a region wracked by deforestation, overfishing and rampant development.

Indonesia, which hosts a United Nations meeting next month to discuss a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, has said it may lose 2,000 islands from rising seas -- a potential threat across Southeast Asian coasts.

The summit declaration is expected to say that ASEAN will endeavor to cut by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2010, implement measures to combat transboundary pollution such as haze, combat illegal logging, and promote sustainable environmental management.

ASEAN will work towards an aspirational goal of reducing the intensity of energy use by 25 percent by 2030, promote renewables plus nuclear power for those interested, but said it recognizes fossil fuels will play a major role in the region's energy mix.

"All the politically correct things to say," said Song. "There's big business in trying to go green -- the priority is still creating jobs."

(Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar and Kevin Lim in Singapore; editing by Geert De Clercq)