L-R: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minsister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen applaud at the end of the closing ceremony of the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, at the elite beach resort of Hua Hin, southern Thailand on October 25, 2009. Dreams of creating a huge economic bloc covering half the world's population are slowly becoming a reality in a plan that would boost Asia's global clout, analysts and officials say. Getty Images logo Getty Images 1 month ago

L-R: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minsister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen applaud at the end of the closing ceremony of the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, at the elite beach resort of Hua Hin, southern Thailand on October 25, 2009. Dreams of creating a huge economic bloc covering half the world's population are slowly becoming a reality in a plan that would boost Asia's global clout, analysts and officials say.

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  1. (L/R) Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, US President Barack Obama,Thailand's Prime Minister Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet , Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen , Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and Lao's Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. shake hands during the group photograph at the ASEAN-US leaders meeting in Singapore on November 15, 2009, on the sidelines of The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. US President Barack Obama held an unprecedented group summit with Southeast Asian leaders, including the prime minister of regional pariah Myanmar. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Obama and his colleagues from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that he wanted 'to welcome all of you to the first ASEAN-US leaders' meeting'.
  2. U.S. President Barack Obama (5th L) poses with ASEAN Leaders before their ASEAN-US meeting in Singapore November 15, 2009. Pictured (L-R) are: Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet , Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laos' Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh.
  3. U.S. President Barack Obama (5th L) poses with ASEAN Leaders before their ASEAN-US meeting in Singapore November 15, 2009. Pictured (L-R) are: Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet , Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laos' Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh.
  4. U.S. President Barack Obama (5th L) poses with ASEAN Leaders before their ASEAN-US meeting in Singapore November 15, 2009. Pictured (L-R) are: Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet , Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laos' Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh.
  5. TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 7: Laotian Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, left, shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart Katuya Okada, 2nd right, as Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, 2nd left, and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama look on during the signing ceremony on Japanese Official Development Assistance to the Lao People's Democratic Republic at the Japanese PM's official residence prior to the Mekong - Japan Summit Meeting on November 7, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The meeting is held to develop the relationships with Japan and Mekong region countires.
  6. TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 7: Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, left, is welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at the Japanese PM's official residence prior to the Mekong - Japan Summit Meeting on November 7, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The meeting is held to develop the relationships with Japan and Mekong region countires.
  7. Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein examines packs of narcotic drugs during a ceremony to destroy narcotic drugs Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, in Kyaing Tong, in eastern Shan State of Myanmar. Authorities in eastern Myanmar on Tuesday destroyed more than $93 million worth of methamphetamine tablets and other illicit drugs seized over the last six months.
  8. Members of the ASAEN 10 link hands for a group photo, from left to right, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, U.S. President Barack Obama, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphvanh, in Singapore, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009.
  9. (L/R) Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong .shake hands during the group photograph at the ASEAN-US leaders meeting in Singapore on November 15, 2009, on the sidelines of The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. US President Barack Obama held an unprecedented group summit with Southeast Asian leaders, including the prime minister of regional pariah Myanmar. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Obama and his colleagues from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that he wanted 'to welcome all of you to the first ASEAN-US leaders' meeting'.
  10. Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein (R) takes part in the ASEAN-US leaders meeting at a hotel in Singapore November 15, 2009, on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. US President Barack Obama held an unprecedented group summit with Southeast Asian leaders, including the prime minister of regional pariah Myanmar. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Obama and his colleagues from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that he wanted 'to welcome all of you to the first ASEAN-US leaders' meeting'.
  11. Members of the ASEAN 10 stand for a group photo, from left to right, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, U.S. President Barack Obama, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphvanh, in Singapore, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009.
  12. U.S. President Barack Obama (C) waits as ASEAN Leaders take their place for a family photo before their ASEAN-US meeting in Singapore November 15, 2009. Pictured (L-R) are: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein and Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
  13. Cambodian Pime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong (L) at the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Cha-am, Thailand October 24, 2009. In a slap in the face to Thailand's rulers, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun offered fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra a job as economic adviser. Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup, heavily influences a red-shirted, anti-government protest movement from self-imposed exile in Dubai. Thailand is seeking to extradite him to serve a jail term for corruption.
  14. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) is pictured with fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra during a meeting at his house in Phnom Penh December 14, 2009. Thaksin returned to Cambodia on Sunday, a month after a visit that sparked a diplomatic row when the Cambodian government refused Bangkok's request to extradite him.
  15. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) hugs fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra during a meeting at his house in Phnom Penh December 14, 2009. Thaksin returned to Cambodia on Sunday, a month after a visit that sparked a diplomatic row when the Cambodian government refused Bangkok's request to extradite him.
  16. Siwarak Chothipong, front left, a former Thai airline employee convicted of spying on Thaksin Shinawatra, walks with his mother Simarak Na Nakhon Panom, front right, out of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's residence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Dec. 14, 2009. The Thai man pardoned for spying has been released to the custody of his mother and Thai opposition politicians and will fly home Monday.

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