President Obama began his 10-day trip to Asia on Friday. He will visit India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan on the tour that will blend trade talk and other economic diplomacy with assurances to Asian allies worried by an increasingly assertive China. Obama wants to double U.S. exports in five years and the administration is working to remove obstacles to a long-stalled U.S.-South Korean free trade agreement.
Victor Cha, a senior adviser and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says there are very high expectations, not just in Korea, but in the region that Obama can deliver a Free Trade Agreement. Cha says the FTA is important in terms of perceptions of the U.S. presence and leadership in Asia.
In India, the President is expected to announce a comprehensive partnership including economic ties to Indonesia. He will also attend a G-20 summit of global economic powers in Seoul and participate in an Asia-Pacific economic forum in Yokohama, Japan.
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