Using "development" and "regional cooperation" as its key terms, this project sought to strengthen personal networks in the target countries by identifying potential leaders and carrying out exchange activities. Each year had a focus of its own, starting with journalists in the first year and continuing on to artists in the second, politicians and policy researchers in the third, and young people (late teens and early twenties) in the fourth. They were invited to take part in retreat-type workshops for discussions of regional issues.
Separate exchange activities targeted at opinion leaders in Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam were started up in fiscal 2001. To improve the quality of this phase of the project, the Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund received advice on people to select and activities to pursue from Dr. Mya Than, a visiting fellow at the Insitute of Security and International Studies of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
The original plan this year was to focus on exchange among business leaders, but when conflicts in scheduling emerged, the focus was redirected at young people and opinion leaders. In the area of youth exchange, the Fund supported a workshop organized by the Children's International Summer Village, to which eight young people from three Indochinese countries were invited (April 1-6, 2003). Addressing the theme of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, the participants engaged in a lively exchange of views. The occasion provided an opportunity for networking across borders for these potential leaders in the political and economic affairs of the Indochinese region.
As part of the exchange among opinion leaders, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, House of Representatives member Seiken Sugiura, and House of Councillors member Hiroshige Seko were sent to Myanmar (April 29-May 2). They engaged in wide-ranging exchanges of views on such matters as politics, the economy, and culture with various Myanmar leaders, including Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council; Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt, SPDC vice-chairmen; and U Win Aung, minister for foreign affairs.
Another part of this exchange was a visit to Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima by a five-member mission led by Nguyen Thi Binh, former vice-president of Vietnam (July 31-August 9). Among the Japanese government and private-sector leaders they exchanged views with were Prime Minister Jun'ichiro Koizumi, House of Representatives member Yoshimi Watanabe, The Nippon Foundation President Yohei Sasakawa, and Research Institute for Peace and Security President Akio Watanabe. On August 6 they attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima, and on August 7 Binh delivered an address in Tokyo on the political and economic situation in Vietnam and on such matters as Agent Orange, as well.
It is hoped that these two exchange programs for influential figures helped to strengthen personal networks and deepen understanding of Japan in the leadership circles of Myanmar and Vietnam.