PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- President Barack Obama, beginning his final day of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, told Central American leaders that their region is important and the United States wanted to be a true partner.

''I'm looking forward to hearing more about how the United States can be an effective partner with all the countries represented,'' Obama told them at a gathering Sunday morning.

Obama met with the presidents of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.

Obama sat at the head of a U-shaped table, with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega on his right and Costa Rica's Oscar Arias on his left. Before the meeting, Obama shook hands with Ortega, whose 47-minute speech during the opening ceremony Saturday remained the subject of chatter among summit participants.

Obama told leaders that he's aware it's easy to get overlooked in a summit with 34 leaders, but the region was important to him and he wanted to hear their concerns.

''Obviously when you're in a (large) group ... it's more difficult to focus just on the regional issues. So this gives me an opportunity to hear more directly about both challenges and opportunities in the region,'' Obama said, according to a White House report on his remarks.

On Saturday evening, before Obama and leaders attended a summit dinner, the president appeared to be in deep conversation with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. Obama also has been trying to spend some time with Haiti's René Préval to discuss that nation's struggles.

The dinner gathering was treated to an array of music -- from Bob Marley's ''No Woman, No Cry'' to Carlos Santana's ``Oye Como Va''.

The menu included lots of local fare: fried plantain, cassava and bhaji cakes with apple papaya chutney, along with traditional Trinidadian corn soup with dumplings. The main entree was grilled tenderloin of beef accompanied with arugula mashed potatoes, Trinidadian tomato chokha and spicy tamarind sauce. For dessert, leaders were treated to ''Kiss of the Hummingbird'' cakes, described as an aromatic infusion of island fruit with mango ice cream.

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