Joint Organizers Program Leader's Declaration Photos

The Business Summit, which was co-sponsored by PBEC Malaysia, included an opening keynote address by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and a variety of topical plenary and concurrent sessions. PBEC Vice Chairman Kosaku Inaba and PBEC US Chairman William Hudson both spoke at the plenary session entitled "Business For What? Before Profit, Beyond Profit". Tan Sri Basir, PBEC Malaysia Chairman, Thomas Ehrgood, vice chairman of the PBEC working committee on electronic commerce, and Ray Cesca, chairman of the PBEC working committee on food products also delivered remarks at separate sessions.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Morgan Stanley Asia, PBEC hosted a reception with the Malaysian Second Minister of Finance, Mustapa Mohamed and the Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz. PBEC US organized a roundtable discussion on financial services which immediately preceded the reception.

The business summit took place just before the APEC leaders meeting, and provided an opportunity for business community to discuss the key issues facing the regional economy, and to share viewpoints with their government counterparts. The summit was also a good opportunity for PBEC to raise its profile with the assembled international media, and several members of the PBEC delegation conducted interviews with a variety of prominent new services.