MAIN PAGE | EVENTS & PROGRAMS | 2001 | IGM | SPEECHES | MINORU MUROFUSHI
PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
MAIN PAGE | EVENTS & PROGRAMS | 2001 | IGM | SPEECHES | MINORU MUROFUSHI
Regional Vitality in the 21st Century
April 6-10, 2001 — Tokyo, Japan
Mr. Minoru Murofushi
Mr. Inaba, PBEC Chairmen, PBEC colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, As we conclude the first PBEC IGM of the 21st century, I'd like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to many people for their outstanding efforts that made this year's conference a great success. First I'd like to specially thank this year's very distinguished guests, the Imperial Highnesses, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess and Prime Minister Mori for their special addresses at the opening session. I would also like to thank President Kim Dae-Jung for his kind video address from Korea. Next, my sincere appreciation goes out to our very special guests who contributed their views in the Asia Pacific Leaders Forum, His Excellency President Ramos, The Honorable Jin Nyum, Her Excellency Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz and The Honorable Matsuda. I'd like to thank Minister Aso for his excellent keynote address of yesterday. Some people may have come here with concern of the stagnant Japanese economy, I think Minister Aso's speech clarified many important issues regarding the current slowdown of the Japanese economy and left us with great hope for the strong rebound in the near future. Japan has also chartered a course to become the world IT leader within 5 years. Here in Daiba, you can see that Japan's new and growing economic vitality. The attendance of so many very distinguished guests at this year's IGM reflects the growing importance of PBEC in Japan and the Asia Pacific. In addition, I'd to thank all of the session chairs and the speakers for hosting such interesting and informative sessions. I personally enjoyed the roundtable discussion on Financial Reform and the third Plenary session on E-Commerce where the discussions were very impressive. Additionally, I'd like to extend my thanks with Mr. Yu for his special address on China and Dr. Ivanovich Ishaev for his special address on Russia. Dr. Richard Koo, his keynote speech this afternoon was very interesting and stimulating and I'm sure you have enjoyed. Also, I'm sure that we all enjoyed the very interesting Plenary session IV chaired by Mr. Prestowitz with excellent speakers such as Mr. S. R. Cho, Mr. Ronnie Chan and Dr. Ken Courtis. As usual, they are excellent speakers and we always enjoy. Finally, I would like to pay a tribute to Dr. Eisuke Sakakibara whose excellent presentation offered us many valuable insights on Japanese economic and financial situation. And we are very grateful for all of our members especially those involved in various PBEC committee meetings who have such a long way to join us this year in Tokyo. I would also like to thank the PBEC Chairman, Mr. Inaba, the Japan Committee, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Meridien Pacific and the Nikko Hotels for doing such a wonderful job in organizing and planning this year's conference. My very special thanks goes to Mr. Bob Lees and the International Secretariat whose leadership and coordination have been invaluable in achieving another very successful IGM. And finally I'll like to thank all of our sponsors for their generous contributions which have made this event possible. Overall, I think this has been an exciting and productive meeting for all those involved. We have listened to many excellent presentations, advanced the PBEC agenda through various internal committees and further strengthened our mutual beneficial business relationships. The conference has also reinforced our shared goal of continued private sector cooperation and partnership. This year we have made great progress in strengthening our commitment to the environment. Owing to the kind support from our sponsors, we have reduced our use of paper through the introduction of Triple E conferencing. I was pleased to see many participants even the older generation people take an active interest in this up and coming technology. This has also been an extremely enjoyable conference. I couldn't think of a better place to enjoy Tokyo's fine spring weather, beautiful cherry blossoms, and legendary hospitality than here in Daiba. Japan's tradition door to the world and the preview of the coming economic renaissance, please stick around for the closing Gala dinner because the best entertainment is yet to come. Looking ahead in the 21st century, the private sector will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role as a driving force for sustained growth in Asia Pacific. PBEC's role in promoting regional business relationships will expand accordingly. I'm looking forward to working with you in the years to come to further strengthen our special relationship in order to realize a healthy and enduring regional vitality. Thank you very much for your kind support. |
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