US President Barack Obama will host leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) at a meeting in New York on September 24, the White House said today.
It will be the second such US—Asean leaders meeting and follows a gathering in Singapore in November 2009, where they committed to deeper cooperation in areas including trade and investment as well as food, energy and regional security.
“The president looks forward to working with the leaders to assess the progress on these issues, identify future efforts to strengthen US—Asean relations, and discuss multilateral approaches for greater regional cooperation,” the White House said in a statement.
The 10-nation Asean grouping represents an important economic and strategic partner for the United States, which wants to boost exports to the Asia-Pacific region as it seeks to lift growth in its battered domestic economy.
Some analysts had hoped Obama would invite the leaders to Washington, rather than holding the meeting in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
“Asean will be the fulcrum of new trade and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region for this century,” Ernest Bower, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, recently wrote.
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