INDONESIAN provincial governors will be meeting in Singapore for the first time with five Asean government representatives for a forum tomorrow to discuss how to fight the haze problem.

The inaugural haze forum will also let global environmental groups and private firms - like Conservation International and the World Wide Fund for Nature - explore projects that they can work with governments to further prevent land and forest fires in the region.

The forum was conceived in August this year at a meeting here for environment ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

All five countries are affected by haze problems.

The Asean environment ministers and their representatives are also meeting on Thursday to review the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

The agreement has been in force since 2003 to manage pollution arising
from burning forested land.

So far, eight of the 10 Asean countries, except the Philippines and Indonesia, have signed it.

Also on the agenda for the environment ministers: the establishment of an Asean working group on climate change
that Thailand will chair.

They are expected to adopt a resolution to address environmental sustainability and climate-change issues as well.

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