To be sure, the United States' attendance at the Post-Ministerial Conferences and the ASEAN Regional Forum and the opportunities that it presents for ministerial-level consultations between ASEAN and the U.S. are extremely valuable for political, diplomatic and strategic, as well as symbolic, purposes. The dialogue between ASEAN and U.S. officials, which takes place about once every eighteen months, covers political, security, economic, and social issues and is quite useful for mutual understanding. However, in terms of cooperative projects, in terms of technical assistance and other development cooperation, the relationship between the United States government and ASEAN as an association is rather thin.