Comunidad del pacífico en perspectiva - Volumen 2

]APANESE ATIlTUDE TOWARD THE PROMonON OF THE PACloFIC ••• 2. Japanese initiatives to promot~ cooperation This is the general background for the growing interest in Japan and many other countries in the Padfic region on the question of promoting the concept of the Padfic basin cooperation. In the case of Japan, as early as in 1967. the then Foreign Minister of Japan. Mr. Takeo Miki, stressed on several occasions the need for the promotion of mutual understanding. as well as the spirit of coope· ration. among nations in the Asian and Pacific region. In 1968, Dr. Saburo Ohkita and Professor Kiyoshi Kojima advocated the esta· blishment of an inter-governmental organization caBed the Orga– nization (or Pacific Trade. Aid, and Development (OPTAD). Those proposals made in late sixties in Japan did not materia– lize in creating any organization or forum at governmental or 0(' !idal leveIs, perhaps because such an attempt was felt somewhat premature at the time. However, two non-governmental organiza– líons were established in 1968. One is an organization called the Padfic Trade and Development Symposium, which is a forum for scholars of the Pacific region and Dr. Ohkita and Professor Kojima are among its founding members. The other is an organization called the Pacific Basin Economic Councíl (PBEC), which is com– posed primarily of businessmen from Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These two organizatíons have been holding annual meetings for more than ten years now, and have been contributing to the promotion of understanding and cooperation among countries in the region. The formation of the Ohíra Cabinet, early in December 1978, marked a renewed interest in japan on the question of promoting Pacific Basin Cooperation Concepto In March, 1979, Prime Minister Ohira appointed a private consultative coundl caUed "the Pacific Basin Cooperation Study Group" headed by Dr. Ohkita. The memo bership o( the Study Group consists mostIy of young experts in their forties, numbering about (ifteen scholars and several govern– ment officials in their private capadties. Al the first meeting of the Study Group, Prime Minister Ohira gave a general guideline. He expressed his view that the remarkable development of the Padfic basin countries in recent years as weIl as the scientific and 37

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