22 May, WASHINGTON:
President Barack Obama leaves Saturday on a weeklong trip to Asia as part of his effort to pay more attention to the region and boost economic and security cooperation.
He’ll spend three days in Vietnam, where he’ll have meetings with top leaders, give a speech on US-Vietnam relations, visit cultural treasures and meet with civil society leaders and entrepreneurs. From Vietnam, he heads to Japan for a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and a historic visit to Hiroshima.
Along the way, Obama will make a big push for the 12-nation trans-Pacific trade agreement, which includes the U.S., Vietnam and Japan. The deal faces strong opposition from the leading 2016 presidential candidates and others, who say it doesn’t do enough to protect U.S. workers from unfair competition. AP
