Leaders of ASEAN’s 10 member nations - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - will convene at the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage today and tomorrow for the first-ever US-ASEAN standalone summit on American soil. 

Hosted by US President Barack Obama, the gathering aims to strengthen cooperation under the new US-ASEAN strategic partnership on political, security and economic issues.

Southern California enjoys strong ties to Asia, including serving as the nation's leading trade gateway to China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Ecuador and the Philippines.

Los Angeles  is competing against Budapest, Paris and Rome for the right to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Wasserman sees South California’s staging of the summit as a feather in the cap of the bid.

"The ASEAN Summit is evidence not only of Southern California’s important place on the world stage, but more importantly of its symbolic role as a multicultural, multi-ethnic global meeting place for diverse philosophies and ideas," he said. 

"In the greater Los Angeles area, we have 18 million people from nearly every nation in the world.

"The prospect of welcoming the world to an inspirational, impactful celebration of the Olympic Movement’s diversity is just one of the reasons we are so excited by the chance to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to LA in 2024."

A poll carried out by the United States Olympic Committee in early August showed that 81 per cent of local citizens in LA supported a bid, giving it unparalleled support among the cities in contention, it was claimed.

A decision is due to be made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its Session in Lima in Peru in 2017.

If successful, Los Angeles would become the second city after London to host the Olympics three times, having previously staged them in 1932 and 1984.

"LA is one of the most diverse cities in the US, but we are united by our love for sport and the Olympic Games," said Los Angeles 2024 vice-chairman Janet Evans, a four-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer.

"Our most recent polls show overwhelming support across all demographic groups.

"That means LA 2024 can promise a warm, home-field welcome for every athlete, and a powerful message about the Olympic Movement’s unifying role in the modern world.

"LA 2024 looks forward to revealing more details about our plans for a city-wide festival of unity in diversity as the campaign progresses."

Earlier this month, IOC President Thomas Bach encouraged Los Angeles 2024 to build upon their "strong foundation" at the conclusion of a two-day visit to the city.

Bach’s visit came as the Bid Committee prepares to finalise and hand in the first part of their Candidature File to the IOC, which must be done by Wednesday (February 17).

Their submission is due to cover the Los Angeles vision, Games concept and strategy.

Los Angeles is also due to reveal its bid logo tomorrow.