While some countries, such as Singapore, are completely wired, others such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam remain plagued by old and rickety phone lines, lack of training, uneven access to personal computers and lack of a legal framework for e-commerce. In others, less than 5 percent of the population have easy access to personal computers. The roadshow also hit New York and Minneapolis. Building the region's Internet platform is crucial, said Danial Hanafiah, secretary of ministry for Brunei, a small but relatively wealthy nation on the north coast of Borneo. That may be no small task in a region with more than a dozen major languages, five different political systems and twice the population of the United States.
Experts disagree on just how stable the region is for foreign investments .
Many of the region's economies are again expanding, and exchange rates and interest rates have stabilized in some countries. California remains intricately entwined with the region, however. Singapore on Friday opened its first consulate and trade office in San Francisco. California trade officials plan to open an office in the Philippines in the next few months. California exports to several Southeast Asian countries are rising again.