The 17th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has opened in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Leaders from 10 southeast Asian countries will try to fast-track an ambitious plan to establish a political and economic community by 2015.

Leaders are arriving for the three day summit that will highlight Asia's role as the engine of global growth.

Seven Chairman statements and 30 other important documents will be submitted for leaders to adopt.

The buzzword this week is "connectivity".

The Master Plan of ASEAN Connectivity proposes strategies to boost transportation networks among its members to reduce economic disparities in Southeast Asia.

Leaders of the ASEAN countries will be joined in Hanoi by their counterparts of Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, as well as the plus three countries, China, Japan and South Korea. The plus 3 nations are expected to support the plan of establishing a political and economic community by 2015.

On Saturday, ASEAN will host the East Asia Summit and will formally invite Russia and the United States to become members.

The region, that is home to close to 600-million people is once again attracting billions of dollars in capital and its stock markets are among the world's best performing this year.

The ASEAN summit will call for participation of its member countries to maintain financial stability to anchor the still fragile global recovery.