KUALA LUMPUR -- Senior officials from 10 Southeast Asian Nations Friday agreed closer cooperation was needed to counter terrorism in a draft statement to be adopted by security ministers next week. "The theme of the work plan contained in the ASEAN minister's joint communique -- special ASEAN ministerial meeting on terrorism -- is the need for closer cooperation," one senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The ASEAN officials agreed there was an urgent need to combat terrorism and transnational crime, AFP reported. "We note with concern the close links between transnational crime and terrorism and that this lends greater urgency to our efforts to combat transnational crime" the draft joint communique obtained by AFP said. The official said that proceeds from organized crime syndicates often ended up funding terrorist activities. He did not elaborate. After two days of intense and frank discussions, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) senior officials agreed on the draft which will be submitted to their respective ministers to discuss and adopt. The home (interior) ministers of the ASEAN countries will gather in Kuala Lumpur from Monday for a two-day meeting. Pointing out the significance of the agreement reached by the officials, he said: "ASEAN now have a work plan. We know how to counter terrorism together. This has been a fruitful meeting," he said. "ASEAN is now equipped with a work program to combat terrorism," he said, adding that it would be implemented within the next three months. The work program agreed in the draft communique includes an exchange of information and development of multilateral or bilateral legal arrangements to facilitate apprehension. ASEAN officials also agreed to enhance cooperation and coordination in law enforcement and intelligence sharing and to develop regional training programs. Prior to this meeting in Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN officials held an expert group meeting in January in Bali, Indonesia to produce a work program that was discussed and finalized by the senior officials who have been meeting here since Thursday.