East Asia-Latin America
Young Leaders Symposium
Final Report

November 15, 2001, Tokyo

East Asia-Latin America Young Leaders' Symposium was held in Tokyo on November 14 and 15 with the participation of young officials of the East Asian and Latin American regions, namely from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao P.D.R, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (participants list attached). Japan chaired the symposium and played the role of co-ordinator.

The symposium was one of the national projects initiated by the Government of Japan to support the dialogue within the framework of Forum for East Asia-Latin America Co-operation (FEALAC). With the hope that the result of the discussion would offer new ideas on the dialogue in the FEALAC, the participants reached an agreement to present this final report to the upcoming 4th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM4), which will be held next year in Colombia.

Participants were asked to discuss mainly three themes: "Policies to support small and medium sized enterprises for economic development," "Economic development and poverty," and "IT revolution and developing countries." The following are the major points that the participants discussed in the symposium.

• Policies to Support Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) for Economic Development
• Economic Development and Poverty
• IT Revolution for Developing Countries (Bridging the Digital Divide)
• Annex A: Keynote Speech "Common Economic Challenges Facing East Asia and Latin America" by Mr. Toru Yanagihara, Professor, Takushoku University
• Annex B: "East Asia-Latin America Young Leaders' Symposium" List of Participants