Trade Ministers of the 10-member South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to cooperate in securing food price stability in the region. "Essentially, we together agreed not to take steps that could bring the distortion or worsen the chaos of markets. It's very important to make sure food prices, even if rise, not to fluctuate to the illogical level,' said Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu at an ASEAN Economic Ministers' meeting in Bali on Saturday. The Ministers acknowledged that the skyrocketing global food prices, caused among others by global growing demand, higher cost and bad weather, have become a threat to South Asia's economic stability. To meet the threat, the ASEAN countries have to increase food production and maintain the agricultural business and regulations, said the announcement. The rice prices in the Asian market have almost trebled this year as some countries like Indonesia and Vietnam have imposed curbs on food exports to secure domestic food safety. Cartel opposed In Madrid, the chief of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said he opposed the idea of setting up an OPEC-style rice cartel as suggested by Thailand. "Agricultural markets should be market-oriented. It would not be good for exporters and it certainly would not be good for importers,' said Haruhiko Kuroda on the sidelines of the bank's annual meeting, which began its here. Thailand had said recently it contacted Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, four members of ASEAN, on the proposal to form an OPEC-style rice cartel for a stronger voice on international price-setting. Mr. Kuroda said that to tackle rising food prices in the medium- and long-term, the most important task is to increase agricultural productivity.