HANOI—The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is considering to hold the ASEAN Regional Forum in September, bringing its foreign ministers together with their counterparts from countries such as Japan, the United States, China, the two Koreas, Russia and India, diplomatic sources revealed on Tuesday.

Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The annual meeting was originally scheduled to be held as part of a series of ASEAN-hosted meetings held between July 31 and Aug. 5 in Hanoi, the capital of the ASEAN chair country Vietnam, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sources said Vietnam is aiming for a face-to-face meeting where foreign ministers show up physically, not virtually as in the case of the ASEAN Summit held on June 26.

ARF comprises the 10 ASEAN states, China, Japan, the United States, Russia, North and South Korea, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the European Union, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, East Timor, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

ARF members

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.—Kyodo