ASEAN's interest in a relationship with Russia arose, above all, from strategic considerations, both geopolitical and economics. It certainly was not for official development assistance, although some in ASEAN insisted on the usual "entrance fee" from Russia for the dialogue relationship. The "entrance fee" concept may have been valid in the 1970s, when ASEAN depended on and expected technical and financial assistance from its Dialogue Partners; perhaps, it remains valid today as far as the newer members are concerned. However, as it was undertaking the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, Russia was having problems getting the necessary funds together. Not that it did not have a few million dollars for the purpose; the problem, rather, was bureaucratic and legal in nature, the Russians pointing out that they did not have any mechanism for financial relationships with groups of countries. Several modalities were tried, including the device of having the private sector serve as a conduit, to no avail. Accordingly, I urged ASEAN not to press the matter but instead focus on the strategic nature and political dimension of the relationship. Russia has proposed an economic and development cooperation agreement with ASEAN, which would supposedly enable Russia's finance ministry to allocate the necessary funds for ASEANRussia projects. However, ASEAN and Russia failed to conclude the agreement at their Post-Ministerial Conference in July 2005. The project declaration issued at the first ASEAN-Russia Summit in December 2005 simply state, ASEAN welcomes the readiness of the Russian Federation to make voluntary financial contribution to the ASEAN-Sussian Federation Dialogue Partnership Financial Fund. The foreign ministers had agreed to set up the fund, with Rusia to decide on the amount of its contribution and the two side to work out its terms of reference.