PADANG BESAR, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- Four countries, affected by the recent haze originating from Indonesia, have pledged to contribute RM180,000 each to the ASEAN Haze Fund.

Natural Resource and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said they were Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.

He said they made the pledge to contribute to the fund at the two-day Asean Environmental Ministers' Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, that started from last Nov 9.

"At the meeting, the four countries agreed to contribute to the fund to finance the technical works to fight the haze," he told reporters at the the Padang Besar constituency's Aidilfitri gathering, here Sunday.

He said Indonesia, which had proposed a total of RM22.8 billion expenditure to fight the haze, was willing to come up with half of the amount, while the remaining would be forked out by other haze-affected countries and from the fund.

All the Asean ministers, particularly those from nations that were affected by the haze, had agreed to hold a meeting every three months to discuss the haze issue, he said.

The countries that were affected by the haze had also agreed to adopt an area each in Sumatera and Kalimantan to make planning and implementation of works easier, he said.