Regional Summit Focuses on Economic Engagement

The US-ASEAN Summit held on February 15-16 in Sunny-lands, California, set the tone for an enhanced economic cooperation between the United States and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The first day of the summit was spent discussing trade and economics, with the theme 'Promoting an Innovative, Entrepreneurial ASEAN Economic Community'.

"The US-ASEAN Summit is a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship, especially in the economic sector," said President Joko Widodo at the Interactive Gallery in California last week. Jokowi raised the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the emerging digital economy. He said that the SMEs made up around 90 percent of businesses in ASEAN and they could provide a lot of jobs in the region.

February 23, 2016