In the wake of the Asian financial crisis, East Asia began to seriously consider economic regionalism. The first ASEAN+3 Summit Meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur in December 1997, and the summit has since become an annual event. Thus, the basic institutional framework for regional economic cooperation was established.

In October 2001, the East Asian Vision Group (EAVG) submitted a report to the leaders of ASEAN + 3 in October 2001. In this report, the EAVG described its vision of an East Asian Community of peace, prosperity and progress, and recommended the formation of an East Asian Free Trade Area well ahead of the Bogor goals set by APEC. Then, in November 2002, the East Asia Study Group (EASG) confirmed that the recommendations of the EAVG would be useful in realizing the East Asian vision, and proposed 9 mid-term and long-term measures and 17 short-term measures.

Recently, an increasing number of East Asian countries have belatedly joined the FTA bandwagon. So far, five FTAs have been concluded among East Asian countries, and many more FTA negotiations are under way among them. In addition, various initiatives have been under way with a view to enhancing financial cooperation among the ASEAN+3 countries.

It is under these contexts that the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) is organizing an international seminar in order to discuss the future of East Asian economic integration among major economic institutes in East Asia.

We sincerely hope that you can join our efforts to reinvigorate the discussion on East Asian economic integration by attending the seminar and sharing your insights with us.

With warm regards,

Dr. Kyung Tae Lee

President

Korea Institute for International Economic Policy



1. Subject: East Asian Economic Integration: Reality and Vison

2. Date: Sep 2, 2005 (Friday), 08:30~17:30

3. Venue: Orchid Room, The Westin Chosun Hotel, Seoul

4. information: Researcher Lee, Ji-hyun (Tel: 3460-1097, Jhlee@kiep.go.kr)




Program


8:30~9:00 Registration

9:00~9:20 Opening Ceremony
Opening Address: Kyung Tae Lee (President, KIEP)

9:20~10:40 sessionxx I De Facto Economic Integration in East Asia

Moderator: Stephen Leong (ISIS, Malaysia)

Paper Presenter: Denis Hew (ISEAS, Singapore)

Discussants: Malayvieng Sakonhniyom (Institute of Foreign Affairs, Laos)
U Kyaw Min Htun (Yangon Institute of Economics, Myanmar)
Vo Tri Thanh (CIEM, Vietnam)

10:40~11:00 Coffee Break

11:00~12:20 sessionxx II East Asian FTAs

Moderator: Masaru Yoshitomi (RIETI, Japan)

Paper Presenter: Zhang Yunling (CASS-IAP, China)

Discussants: Josef Yap (PIDS, Philippines)
Larry Strange (CDRI, Cambodia)
Erywan Mohd Yusof (Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brunei)

12:20~14:00 Luncheon

Speaker: Sung-Joo Han (former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Korea)

Place: Cosmos &Violet room (Second Floor)

14:00~15:20 sessionxx III Financial Integration in East Asia

Moderator: Naoyuki Yoshino (Keio Univ., Japan)

Paper Presenter: Yung-Chul Park (Seoul National Univ.)

Discussants: Chalongphob Sussangkarn (TDRI, Thailand)
He Fan (CASS- IWEP, China)

15:20~15:40 Coffee Break

15:40~17:00 sessionxx IV How to Envision an East Asian Community?

Moderator: Kyung Tae Lee (KIEP)

Panelists: All participants

17:00~17:20 Closing