ABSTRACT
The importance of the last conference, as of its predecessors, is to be found in any positive achievement in economic development, but in the fact that this large group of countries now accepts the proposition that economic co-operation among them is desirable and feasible. In 1965 she responded to the American appeal for co-operation in providing increased economic aid to South-East Asia and she took a leading part in the establishment of the Asian Development Bank, which is designed to finance enterprise in that region; the first president was Mr. Takeshi Watanabe. As time has gone on Japan has become increasingly active in promoting economic co-operation within the Pacific area and some of the means employed deserve a brief description. The arguments in favour of international economic co-operation have consequently become increasingly persuasive for Japan, for, in the absence of such co-operation, relations with many of her trading partners might become less harmonious.
