On July 19 the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) held the fifth Asian Neighbors' Forum, with participants freely ex- changing opinions over two main themes -- "Searching for a new model of Asian regional cooperation" and "The progress of globalization and cooperation among Asian business sectors."
The arguments given by those at the forum included:
* It is important for Asian nations to cooperate in stabilizing the region's currencies, and in that respect, the Chang Mai initiative set forth by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its three key partners for a regional currency swap arrangement is a positive development.