Hun Sen, Asean Leaders To Meet With Obama

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Tuesday, 07 September 2010

via CAAI

Photo: AP
President Barack Obama gives a thumbs up after speaking at the annual Milwaukee Area Labor Council Laborfest on Monday.

President Obama wished to work with regional leaders on issues such as “trade and investment, regional security, disaster management, food and energy security, and climate change.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Asean leaders are slated to meet with US President Barack Obama at the end of the month, the White House said in a statement.

Obama will meet the leaders as a group at a US-Asean summit in New York Sept. 24, where Hun Sen could also meet with his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vijjajiva, over the border dispute between the two neighbors.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed the meeting with the president, but he said it remains uncertain whether the Thai and Cambodian premiers will meet.

Both leaders have expressed a desire to meet in upcoming international and regional forums, following the resumption of full diplomatic ties in August. Soldiers from both sides remain entrenched along a disputed section of border west of Preah Vihear temple.

Meanwhile, analysts say the US is making more efforts lately to engage with Asean leaders, as China spreads its influence across the region.

The White House said in a Sept. 3 statement Obama wished to work with regional leaders on issues such as “trade and investment, regional security, disaster management, food and energy security, and climate change.”