The 5th Asian International Forum in Fukuoka
31 August & 1 September 2005
Hotel Nikko, Fukuoka, Japan
Theme: Envisioning an "East Asian
Community"
Co-sponsored by: Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City, the Organizing
Committee of
the Asian International Forum in Fukuoka
Distinguished representatives of think tanks in Asia, EU and
US gathered at the 5th Asian International Forum
in Fukuoka. At this forum economic experts of leading think tanks
involved in governmental policymaking in their respective
countries/regions discussed Asia’s present and future developments. Conference Programme
(pdf)
Dr Willem van der Geest gave a presentation, The East Asian
Summit - towards ever closer cooperation? - Abstract
(pdf)
More information can be found on the Conference's Official Website
The fifth Asian International Forum in Fukuoka, Japan (August
31-Sept 1, 2005) focused on the forthcoming East Asia Summit (EAS) in
Kuala Lumpur under the title ‘Envisioning an East Asian Community’.
Speakers and participants at the Forum felt that the forthcoming Kuala
Lumpur East Asian Summit meeting was bound to be a major milestone in
the dynamic process of East Asian regional cooperation. In terms
of its importance, the meeting was perceived to be of equal importance
to the launching of the Asia-Europe Meeting process (ASEM) in Bangkok
1996.
It was a widely-held perception that the Summit would probably, though
not certainly, lead to the creation of an East Asian Community. Several
key-issues for the agenda of the Summit were discussed, in particular,
the challenges and obstacles which East Asian leaders would need to
address, including
* the overall vision for the Community and its long-term and interim goals,
* the issue of its Membership,
* the issue of leadership,
* the diversity within the region,
* the historical legacies dividing East Asian nations and peoples, as well as
* immediate first steps to be agreed in Kuala Lumpur.
Furthermore, the discussion also focused on the question whether the
East Asian Community would be distinct from ASEAN and how to avoid
duplication and overlap.
Speakers from leading East and South East Asian think tanks, along with
Japanese scholars from Tokyo and Fukuoka, were complemented by one
speaker from the US, Dr Claude Barfield from the American Enterprise
Institute, as well as one from the EU, Dr Willem van der Geest,
European Institute for Asian Studies, Brussels.
A list of the participating think tanks may be found on the Prefecture of Fukuoka's Official Website.
as well as the Japanese and English abstracts of the presentations and
the summing-up Statement of the participants of the 5th Asian
International Forum. For more information about presentations visit the
Conference’s official website, including also the abstract of Dr van
der Geest’s presentation at Fukuoka, "The East Asian
Summit - towards ever
closer cooperation? -- an EU perspective". Download the Abstract
(pdf)
Participating Think Tanks
China: WANG Tongsan, Ph.D., Institute of Quantitative
& Technical Economics (IQTE), Chinese Academy of Social
SciencesCASS)
EU: Willem van der GEEST, Ph.D., European Institute for Asian
Studies (EIAS)
Hong Kong: Simon Xu Hui SHEN, Hong Kong Policy Research Institute
(HKPRI)
Indonesia: Yose Rizal DAMURI, Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS)
Japan: Kazuhito YAMASHITA, Economic and Research Institute of Economy,
Trade and Industry (RIETI)
Korea: Chang Jae LEE, Ph.D., Center for Northeast Asian Economic
Cooperation (CNAEC), Korea Institute for International Economic Policy
(KIEP)
Malaysia: Stephen Leong, Ph.D., Assistant Director General, Institute
of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia(ISIS)
Philippines: Josef T. YAP, Ph. D., Philippine Institute for Development
Studies (PIDS)
Singapore: Rahul SEN, Ph. D., Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies (ISEAS)
Taiwan: David S. HONG, Ph.D., Taiwan Institute of Economic
Research (TIER)
Thailand: Nipon POAPONGSAKORN, Ph. D., Thailand Development
Research Institute (TDRI)
Vietnam: VU Xuan Nguyet Hong, Central Institute for Economic
Management (CIEM)
Coordinator: Akihiko SHINOZAKI, Ph.D., Professor of Kyushu
University and Kazushi SHIMIZU, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Kyushu
University
