President Barack Obama and the leaders of Southeast Asian nations have gathered in California for two days of talks on economic and security issues This is the first time the leaders of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are meeting in the US China is not present, but is the focus of the summit Obama planned to focus Monday evening's (Tuesday morning, Thailand time) talks on the economy, specifically on using innovation and entrepreneurship to promote prosperity in the region.