Future opportunity for US growth depends on whether President Obama focuses on Southeast Asia, not just China and India.
May 3, 2010
By Ernest Z. Bower
Christian Science Monitor, Washington
If the United States is to have a sustainable toehold in Asia, Washington has to start paying serious attention to some countries in the region that are not China or India.
There are 10 other countries in particular that hold the key to America’s central role in all of Asia. Engaging with them is a must for US prosperity and national security. That’s why President Obama must follow through on his overtures to the region and carve out time to attend the second ever US-ASEAN summit, this year.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began in 1967 to accelerate economic growth and collaboration in the region. The group is made up of 10 countries in Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. About 650 million people live in the region, and each year gross domestic product adds up to around $1.5 trillion. The Philippines and Thailand are two longtime US treaty allies. According to the latest US Department of Commerce figures, which were for 2008, the US had $153 billion invested in ASEAN, $53 billion in China, and $14 billion in India.
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