Although the main theme of the summit will be "building stable and efficient revenue sources and promoting financial sector reform and transparency to attract capital," key issues to be discussed at the meeting will be the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

"Money laundering is a very important item of the agenda. Ministers and senior officials will discuss the financial and technical tools to deter terrorism and money laundering," said Tran Xuan Ha, deputy finance minister of Vietnam.

The United States seems to be paying close attention to the meeting since Vietnam is investigating U.S. claims that North Korea opened illegal accounts in Vietnam's banks.

According to the American ambassador to Vietnam, Michael Marine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will attend the meeting and is likely to talk about the misuse of financial systems, terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"When you talk about trade and security, these issues tend to merge together. If you want to facilitate trade, you have to secure trade," said Marine.

In July, Vietnam was asked by the U.S. to check bank accounts opened by North Korea for possible weapons dealing and money laundering. Stuart Levey, the U.S. Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, visited Vietnam to call for Hanoi's cooperation in investigating the claim and freezing the suspect bank accounts.

Acting upon Levey's suggestion, the State Bank of Vietnam ordered all commercial banks to check for illegal accounts or illegal transactions by North Korea.

"The State bank of Vietnam is taking a very close look at this issue," Ha said. He refused further comment.

There has been no official announcement from the State Bank of Vietnam regarding the issue. However, the Yonhap News Agency recently cited Peter Beck, head of the International Crisis Group's Seoul office, as saying Vietnam had already froze North Korean accounts.

Edwina Baniqued