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Supplements & Quick Reference: · Main Page · Overview · Confirmed Speakers · Available Speeches · Photos · Media Information · Sponsorships   Visit the Official Site: www.pbec2002.com Striving for Growth in a Challenging Environment PBEC 35th International General Meeting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 3-7, 2002 Kosaku Inaba Outgoing Chairman, Pacific Basin Economic Council "Farewell Remarks" Tuesday, May 7, 2002 Distinguished guests, members of PBEC, and Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I complete my term as Chairman of PBEC, and I would like to say a few words on the occasion of leaving office. First, let me begin by offering my most sincere thanks for all the support I have received from the Board of Directors, Mr. S.R. Cho, Mr. Javier Prieto, and Mr. Jack Wadsworth, and from the chairmen of the national Member Committees, especially the past and present chairmen of the Malaysia Committee, Tan Sri Dato' Haji Basir Ismail and Tan Sri Dato' Azman Hashim. With your cooperation and help, it has indeed been an honor for me to serve as Chairman for the past two years. As PBEC marks its thirty-fifth anniversary, I am confident that it will flourish still further under the chairmanship of my successor, Mr. S.R. Cho. On a personal note, I have been with my present company, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. since 1946, when I joined the company as an engineer. In the five and a half decades since then, while taking part in the postwar history of industry, I myself have moved from the technical to the managerial side, and have also been involved in various ways with the larger business community, both in Japan and internationally. My first encounter with PBEC was in 1994 at the Malaysia IGM, and, in one of life's strange coincidences, I am here again in Malaysia to bid you farewell as Chairman. At this IGM, I will also formally hand over the chairmanship of the Japan Member Committee to Mr. Minoru Murofushi, Chairman of Itochu Corporation, who has been serving as the committee's Acting Chairman. From now on, I look forward to keeping my eyes on the future development of PBEC as a member, and maintaining my contacts with you, my fellow members. You may remember the American film Forrest Gump, which was a worldwide hit a few years ago. The hero, played by Tom Hanks, is told by his mother, "Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get." Those simple words remind us that life is made up of unique encounters, each to be savored in its own way. A similar idea is found in the Japanese tea ceremony, where it is expressed in the saying Ichigo, ichie (One lifetime, one encounter). Through PBEC events, I have enjoyed many new and stimulating encounters, and gained some great friends whom I might otherwise never have had the good fortune to meet. It has given me much pleasure to greet an ever-increasing number of friends at each IGM. I treasure the friendships that have grown from our encounters; they are, indeed, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Technological progress has rapidly shrunk the physical distances between us. But even today, thirty-five years after PBEC was founded, I feel sure that the strong personal bonds and mutual understanding that can only be developed face-to-face remain as precious as ever. At this International General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, many outstanding speakers have provided us with deep insights into the issues facing the world economy and have mapped out approaches to solving them. We should act upon the highly meaningful results of this IGM and continue our efforts to ensure that the Asia-Pacific region remains a source of sustainable growth for the world economy in the future. I am confident that these challenges will be met by each one of you here today, as business leaders of the economies in the Pacific Basin Region, and by PBEC as your network organization. In closing, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all those whose tireless efforts have helped make this International General Meeting in Malaysia a great success, especially Her Excellency Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Honorable Datuk Abdul Razak Ramli, Secretary General of International Trade and Industry; Tan Sri Dato' Azman Hashim, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Ms. Rohana Tan Sri Mahmood, Director General of PBEC Malaysia Member Committee, and the other members of the Organizing Committee drawn from Malaysia's public and private sectors. I would also like to express my gratitude to the meeting's corporate sponsors, both in Malaysia and abroad, and to all of you in attendance here today. Let me conclude by calling for your continuing support of the Pacific Basin Economic Council. Thank you very much. Terima kasih. (Thank you.) Junpa ragi. (Until we meet again.)