ASEAN OKs Obama's invitation for US summit

Leader of ASEAN countries have accepted US President Barack Obama’s invitation for a summit in California in the first half of 2016, the White House National Security Council told the media on Wednesday. A date for the summit was not provided, though Japan’s Kyodo news service quoted an ASEAN official as saying it will be held on February 15 and 16. ASEAN spokespeople were not available for comment yesterday due to the Christmas holiday.

Nina Hachigian, the US ambassador to ASEAN, said in a conference call earlier this month that the summit will revolve around US-ASEAN economic integration, maritime cooperation, climate change, women’s opportunity and the South China Sea dispute. ASEAN, as a bloc, is the US’s fourth-largest trading partner, according to Hachigian.

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