U.S. President George W. Bush met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the White House on Friday, pledging to strengthen relations with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Speaking to reporters, Bush confirmed that he would in September hold his first summit with ASEAN countries that group Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"Today I talked to Prime Minister Lee about America's desire to stay in close contact with not only Singapore, but our partners in what we call the ASEAN nations," Bush told reporters after the meeting.

"To this end, the prime minister has invited me, and I've accepted an invitation, to go back to Singapore to talk to our partners and friends about trade and security," Bush said.

In his remarks, Lee encouraged Bush "to deepen and strengthen the already good ties between the Southeast Asian countries, ASEAN and America, both as a group and also bilaterally, individually, with single countries."

"I suggested to the president that we should consider a suitable new initiative, which perhaps would be able to take our relations another step forward," Lee said.

Lee Hsien Loong arrived here for a week visit on Wednesday. His last visit to the United States fell in 2005.

Source: Xinhua