The Pacific Asian GroupChairman: Yotaro
Kobayashi The former Japanese Group of the Trilateral Commission was widened in 2000 to become the Pacific Asian Group. For the 2003-2006 Triennium, the Pacific Asian Group is composed of over 100 members from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the five original ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand). Individuals from the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also participated. Yotaro Kobayashi, now chief corporate advisor and former chairman of the Board of Fuji-Xerox, is the fifth person to serve as chairman of this group since the Trilateral Commission was created in 1973. The first Japanese chairman was Takeshi Watanabe, who took up his Trilateral duties shortly after stepping down as president of the Asian Development Bank. The second was Isamu Yamashita, chairman of Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering. He was succeeded by Akio Morita, founder and chairman of the SONY Corporation. Kiichi Miyazawa, former prime minister of Japan and a leading figure in the Trilateral Commission from its beginning, became acting Japanese chairman in late 1993. He passed the baton to Yotaro Kobayashi in January 1997. The Japanese deputy chairman for many years was Nobuhiko Ushiba, former ambassador to the United States and later minister for external economic affairs. He was succeeded by Yoshio Okawara, who had also served as ambassador to the United States. Shijuro Ogata, former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan for international affairs, succeeded Ambassador Okawara. In 2000 Han Sung-Joo, former Korean foreign minister, also became a deputy chairman of the Pacific Asian Group. After becoming ambassador to the United States in 2003, he was succeeded by Kim Kyung-Won, president of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs and former ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. Han Sung-Joo, now president of Korea University and the Seoul Forum for International Affairs, succeeded Kim Kyung-Won as deputy chairman in 2006. Tadashi Yamamoto, founder and president of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), has been the director on the Japanese/Pacific Asian side of the Trilateral Commission from the beginning. The JCIE staff serves as the Trilateral Pacific Asian Group staff, among many other tasks. The multiple involvements of the Japan Center for International Exchange can be explored on the JCIE Website. The Pacific Asian Group held their first regional conference in Seoul, Korea in November, 2000. Subsequent regional meetings were held in Hong Kong (2001), Singapore (2002), Tokyo, Japan, Bangkok, Thailand (2004), Beijing, China (2005), Bali, Indonesia (2006) and Singapore (2007). See Pacific Asian Group Regional Meeting Programs since 2000. |
