JAKARTA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States recognized the growing capacity and important role of ASEAN in global issues, and vowed to boost economic coordination with the region, a press release from the ASEAN Secretary said here Monday.

    The statement was made after the meeting of U.S. President Barack Obama and 10 ASEAN leaders on Sunday in Singapore on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The one-and-half-hour meeting was the first time that the U.S. president shared one room with all 10 ASEAN leaders.

    The United States supports ASEAN's continuing role in multilateral efforts, where ASEAN had a growing ability to make contributions, the statement said.

    Reflecting the importance of economic ties between ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the United States, the statement stressed the need to further enhance economic cooperation and partnership through new initiatives to be agreed upon by the ASEAN Trade Ministers and the United States Trade Representative.

    "The President of the United States also supported regional efforts initiated by ASEAN and ASEAN-led fora, to address the impact of the global financial and economic crisis in the region and looked forward to continued close coordination between such regional efforts and the global efforts undertaken by the G-20," the release said.

    ASEAN economies have started to recover from the global financial routs, attracting more global investors to come in, which causes capital inflow in the region and strengthens the region currencies against the U.S. dollars.

    The international demand and prices of export commodities from the region, which most of its member countries rely much on the overseas sales, have started to recover.

    To boost the cooperation in addressing the global and regional issues, both the U.S. and ASEAN agreed to increase collaboration and would establish an ASEAN-U.S. Eminent Persons Group.

    The statement said the United States recognized the important role of ASEAN in regional issues, and it shared a vision of a regional architecture that was inclusive, promotes shared values and norms, and respects the diversity within the region.

    "We agreed to work closely together in building this regional architecture, and were ready to study initiatives of this nature. We reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN centrality in this process," the statement read.

    In welcoming the outcome of the meeting, Secretary-General of ASEAN Surin Pitsuwan said that "the successive and proactive re-engagement of ASEAN and the U.S. has brought about a transformation of seismic proportions to ASEAN-U.S. relations".

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