(Picture November 2009)04/09/2010
ASEAN invites Obama for regional summit
Agence France-Presse
HANOI -- Southeast Asian leaders on Friday invited US President Barack Obama to attend a summit in Vietnam later this year, to deepen ties with the region on which he has placed a renewed focus.
Agence France-Presse
HANOI -- Southeast Asian leaders on Friday invited US President Barack Obama to attend a summit in Vietnam later this year, to deepen ties with the region on which he has placed a renewed focus.
Obama visited Singapore last year for the first summit between the United States and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The two sides agreed to host another summit this year, according to a statement issued at the close of a two-day meeting of ASEAN leaders in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam which is the group's current chair.
"In this regard, we extended the invitation to President Obama to participate in that event which Vietnam offered to host in 2010," it said.
The leaders also encouraged the United States and Russia, "to deepen their engagement in an evolving regional architecture", possibly through the East Asia Summit grouping.
The East Asia Summit was created in 2005 and involves the ASEAN countries as well as Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand and China -- which has a growing influence in Southeast Asia.
ASEANWEB
