Asia hopes Obama brings message of broad engagement

Nov 3, 2009, 6:32 GMT

   Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Tuesday that he hoped US President Barack Obama would send a strong message of broad US engagement in Asia while attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leader's summit next week.

   'We hope that we will be able to strengthen the relationship with the United States and they will play a major role in the Asia-Pacific,' Lee said.

   'I hope his message to the region will be that the US will play this role and they will be engaged,' he said, noting that he hoped for 'a broad engagement' by the United States, not only in trade but also on security and other fields.

   'We know that he [Obama] has many preoccupations,' Lee said, giving the problems with Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea as examples.

   But beyond all these worries, there were 'long-term interests' in Asia for the US, Singapore's prime minister said.

   'Our message to [Obama] is that the US has many friends and many interests in the region,' Lee told a news conference ahead of hosting the annual APEC summit. 'We welcome them as partners.'

   APEC consists of the 21 Pacific Rim economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Peru, Russia, United States and Vietnam.

   Its summit is scheduled for November 14-15.