Japan/Asia Summit

'While it is early days, the prospects of an eventual East Asian FTA are mind-boggling. Scholars note that, with 1.9 billion people and a gross domestic product of US$2 trillion, the region would constitute a huge single market and transform the world economic system, which is dominated by the North American Free Trade Area and the European Union. Given that an East Asian community is unimaginable without Japan, last week's summit promised much more than even what has been achieved over the past three decades. Japan, once an unsuccessful imperial power in South-east Asia, has found its rightful place in peace as a regional leader. It has come home.'

The Straits Times, 15 December, 2003