 Asian leaders signed an energy security pact on Monday that seeks to reduce oil dependency and greenhouse gas emissions in some of the most polluted countries on the planet, but offers no concrete targets. Southeast Asian leaders along with the heads of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand held their second East Asia summit in a more constructive atmosphere than last year as Beijing and Tokyo used the meeting to further mend ties. "This year is more focused on substance. Last year it was like a house-warming party, everybody came and got to know each other" Ong Keng Yong, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), told reporters. The leaders also discussed North Korea's nuclear ambitions, financial integration, disaster mitigation and bird flu. But the centre-piece of summit was an energy security pact that seeks to reduce the region's dependence on costly crude oil and help stave off climate change. Unlike the European Union, however, which last week unveiled ambitious energy proposals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent, the Asian leaders, who run some of the most polluted nations on earth, offered no concrete targets. The pact calls for encouraging the use of biofuels, hydropower, or nuclear power to reduce dependence on conventional fuels. It also calls for private sector investment in energy infrastructure. The head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) urged East Asian countries on Monday to create a regional free trade bloc and to increase financial cooperation to reduce the risk of crises. "To maximise the potential benefits of free trade agreements, East Asia has to chart a clear roadmap to establish a region-wide FTA," Haruhiko Kuroda told the summit in the central Philippines. Japan proposed such a bloc last year, but it has yet to find traction among the 16-member grouping, which accounts for about a fifth of world trade and half the world's people. Officials at the East Asia summit said any such bloc is far into the future, if at all, and ASEAN's priority is to sign FTA's with individual countries represented at the summit. Asian countries have agreed or are trying to hammer out a "noodle bowl" of around 50 local FTAs. The leaders at the summit were expected to unite in support of enforcing U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea after its atomic and missile tests last year, and of the six-party talks aimed at inducing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapon ambitions. Both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and China's Premier Wen Jiabao are vying to influence ASEAN as it becomes a more integrated political and economic bloc. Abe, fresh from a tour of Europe where he pitched a more assertive diplomatic stance, highlighted Tokyo's desire to play a more prominent security role in the region by agreeing to support Southeast Asian maritime security. China and ASEAN on Sunday agreed to slash barriers on trade in services such as telecoms and transport, which Wen said is a "crucial step" toward creating the world's most populous free trade area. In Cebu, riot police used batons and shields to hold back hundreds of left-wing protesters outside Arroyo's official residence in the port city. It has been the only significant incident at the summit after a series of bomb blasts last week in the south blamed on Islamic militants. The leaders, who will also endorse a birdflu prevention "road map" sharing best practices on Monday, are anxious not to develop into a talking shop. "The discussion so far has revolved around how do we give meaty stuff without bringing about more meetings. So far so good," said Ong.