Growth Driven by Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation - The East Asian Experience in Economic Development and Cooperation

From August 26 to September 4, 2002, thousands of people will gather at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, to focus the world's attention on improving quality of life and conserving the earth's resources. Participants, heads of state, national delegates, and leaders from non-governmental organizations and business, will examine a trend that affects everyone on the globe: the world's ever-increasing population is making ever-increasing demands for food, shelter, energy, health services and economic security.

As part of the program, Japan has named September 1 "Development Day," and will host a series of events at Japan Pavilion in Ubuntu Village, the official exhibition site near the summit venue.

RIETI will, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), host the second program of the day (13:00-15:00, Sunday, September 1), with its consulting fellow Kenichi Ohno as keynote speaker. The special panel discussion will be attended by Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and other distinguished scholars and practitioners, and will be moderated by Yoshihiko Sumi, director-general in charge of economic cooperation at METI.

The global aid community has become increasingly focused on poverty reduction as the only goal of development. However, development based on growth, trade and investment is equally, if not more, valid and should not be forgotten. One region that has acheived such development is East Asia, where vigorous private sector activities were supported by public sector cooperation. In this special panel discussion, the panelists will evaluate the experience of Asian dynamism, in order to draw lessons for regions outside East Asia.

Ubuntu Village will be accessible to all accredited visitors with the official South African host country accreditation pass. We hope those of you who happen be in Johannesburg on September 1 will come to join the discussion. We will post the conference materials and video archive of the event on our Web site as well.